A：For the fourth quarter, Keysight's financial results were as follows: orders grew 14%, revenue increased 10%, and EPS rose 16%. For the full year, orders and revenue rose 8%, and EPS increased 14%.

A：The Communication Solutions Group's growth is driven by AI infrastructure build-outs, rapid upgrades to the technology stack, and the demand across the workflow from silicon design to system validation and secure deployments. This includes redesigns across AI, silicon, DSPs, switches, and transceivers, as well as the scaling of AI workloads and the transition from 400 to 800 gig and 1.6 tera optical speed refresh cycles.

A：AI is having a significant impact across various technology segments, driving greater design, emulation, and test intensity. This includes transitions in computing, networking, interconnects, memory, and power to support the rapid scaling of AI workloads. The demand is across solutions that span from AI to silicon design and is accelerating new designs across the technology stack.

A：Keysight is advancing the future of AI infrastructure and data centers by driving developments in CPO and LPO technologies with a comprehensive portfolio of physical layer solutions and AI emulation. The company is collaborating with industry leaders and shaping industry standards, as demonstrated by their partnership with Meta at the Open Compute Project Conference. Keysight's AI Data Center Builder has won an award for its innovation in the European Conference on Connectivity. The company is actively involved with industry consortia and contributing to the shaping of future AI and data center infrastructure.

A：The wireless segment experienced high single-digit growth in orders and revenue for the full year, outperforming expectations. This growth is attributed to ongoing standards evolution, non-terrestrial networks, and early 6G research. The segment is engaged with industry leaders in advancing direct-to-sell connectivity and new LEO designs. The momentum is particularly strong in non-terrestrial networks, with contributions from best-in-class precision location simulators that enhance the next generation of positioning, navigation, and timing use cases. The industry is also focusing on early pre-standard designs for 6G, and Keysight is well positioned with engagements across several market-defining customers.

A：In the defense and security sectors, Keysight is seeing strong customer engagement in defense modernization, enhanced deterrence capabilities, and operational readiness. There is a growing investment in emerging technologies such as space and satellite autonomous systems, advanced antenna designs, and related technologies. The company secured key wins with US prime contractors to accelerate automated device verification and advanced component analysis capabilities. These capabilities are being leveraged for applications in radar and tactical communication, as well as for capturing wide-band signal recording data for lab analysis. With its leadership across RF, digital, and optical technologies, Keysight is well positioned to capitalize on the expanding defense and security market demand.

A：Investment and demand for the company's solutions are being driven by semiconductor 6G, quantum, and photonics initiatives, particularly outside of the US, where the company benefits from its global scale and local engagement in the semiconductor industry.

A：The acquisition of the Optical Solutions Group has expanded the company's photonics portfolio, and is helping to advance the company's market and customer engagement model to deepen long-standing strategic relationships while acquiring new customers and opportunities as the global supply chain shifts.

A：The strategic engagements with market-defining innovators and the addition of more than 3000 new logos signify the company's growing customer base and its ability to reach thousands of customers globally through events and industry standards bodies participation.

A：The performance of the company's services business, which has reached record revenue, indicates robust demand for key site care premium offerings, reflecting the company's growing services business.

A：Fiscal year 25 marks a return to growth with fourth quarter revenue above the high end of guidance and reported orders up 14%. Full year results show revenue of $5 billion, 8% as reported or 7% on a core basis, with gross margin at 65% and operating margin at 26%, and earnings per share of $1.60, up 14% for the year.

A：For the first quarter of fiscal year 26, the company expects revenue in the range of $1530 million to $1550 million, representing 19% year-over-year growth at the midpoint, with recent acquisitions contributing to the growth. The company also expects Q1 earnings per share to be in the range of $1.95 to $2.05.

A：The significance of standards in the deployment of technology is that they serve as mile markers for how deployments will occur, often indicating a time frame before global deployments may happen.

A：New opportunities are emerging from the changing technology stack, specifically in the areas of Gpus and AI accelerators being deployed in Ran environments and the concurrent exploration of compute and connectivity infrastructure using wireline and wireless portfolios.

A：The acquired SPE positioning business is expected to add value by bringing unique capabilities in positioning, navigation, and time to the portfolio. It simulates and emulates satellite environments in the lab, and its integration into the portfolio is anticipated to enhance different end markets, especially automotive and autonomous systems.

A：The expected contribution of M&A revenue to the company's growth is estimated to be roughly 75% in the first quarter and 20% into eisg. The revenue is seasonally weighted more heavily towards the first quarter, but it is expected to be relatively evenly distributed thereafter.

A：Investors should think about the impact of M&A on organic revenue growth and incremental margins as being consistent with historical organic revenue growth of 40% or more incremental margins, factoring in the potential for improved profitability via synergies and efficiency captures post integration.

A：The wireline segment is benefiting from AI investment and is expected to be a significant growth driver going forward. For wireless, growth is anticipated to align with the targeted growth levels for commercial comps, which was not specified in the transcript. In the industrial businesses, a 4 to 6% growth is anticipated, with strength in semiconductors offset by some continued questions in the automotive sector.

A：Tariffs are being managed with an expectation to offset them sooner than previously anticipated. This is due to the lower end of the annualized tariff range guiding at 100 to 175 million, which is trending lower. Additionally, stronger business performance, pricing, and surcharging mitigations are ramping faster than expected. The company has also intentionally honored all outstanding orders pre-tariff, reducing future exposure to tariffs.

A：The achievement of the 31% to 32% operating margin goal is now seen as further away than previously anticipated. The downturn from fiscal 23 to 24 impacted this, and the business was operating at 29% prior to that. While the fundamentals of value creation and the operating model remain intact, it will take some time to return to the previous 29% levels and then climb back to the 31% to 32% target.

A：There is a scaling element in the demand for high-speed silicon photonics and interconnect accelerators, driving both design and R&D activities. The industry is experiencing a design refresh across the network with a focus on 1.6 Tb waves ahead. Key technology has demonstrated solutions for 1.6 and 3.2 Tb. Challenges such as increasing speed, power reduction at the same speed, and improving density are driving intense R&D and design emulation, which is where silicon photonics can play a role. The transition from R&D to commercial production is expected to continue, with growth anticipated in the next year.

A：The aerospace and defense segment has shown strength, but the transcript does not provide specific details on the causes of this strength, such as budget broadening or new program initiations. It was anticipated that these factors could contribute to the strength observed. Additionally, there was a positive uptick in auto orders year over year, and the question of where green shoots are emerging in the automotive sector was raised, but no direct answers were given regarding this topic.

A：Europe was showing strength, and the company's portfolio, with a focus on defense technology and particular emphasis on speed and agility, is well-positioned with emerging technologies.

A：The automotive and energy business has reached a level of stability at current levels, despite full-year orders being down. However, year-over-year growth was seen in the fourth quarter across software-defined vehicles, electric vehicles (ESI), and manufacturing, with investments increasing in the software-defined vehicle space, vehicle networks, advanced connectivity, advanced sensing and radar, and chip design.

A：The wireline business had a record year, growing double-digitly. It contributes significantly to next-generation technologies and AI clusters through a broad set of tools across physical and protocol layers of emulation. The commercial communications segment is a little under half of the wireline business, and both are growing strongly with robust customer adoption.

A：The recent acquisitions of the optical solutions group and SPARTA have been integrated into the software and services portfolio, providing a meaningful uplift and the ability to create life cycle value for customers while capturing value for the P&L.

A：The company's investments are in a cohesive portfolio ranging from physical layer protocol emulations to applications like the design space, with plans to refresh the portfolio as new technologies emerge. The company expects to continue investing in technology and AI, which will result in an increase in R&D spending. However, the investments are expected to help outperform the market under various conditions, and the company aims to maintain its competitive advantage.

A：The main areas of focus for integration are the market and the back office, with some opportunities to align and share costs across the portfolio. The company is looking for leverage in other parts of the business. Future R&D investments should continue to prioritize innovation across the portfolio, with particular attention to physical layer technology refreshes and new product introductions in both traditional and AI-related areas.

A：The company experienced solid free cash flow this quarter due to good conversion of non-GAAP net income into profitability. There will be additional integration-related expenses during the year, which may put some pressure on free cash flow conversion. However, these expenses are expected to be a small proportion of the overall total, and the company still expects strong free cash flow conversion next year.