ACCESS Newswire Inc (ACCS) 2026 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to ACCESS Newswire first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. My name is Laila Kalantari and I am a Product Manager here at ACCESS Newswire. I have been with the company since 2022, initially from the newswire.com business where I was a part of the PR Optimizer team, helping customers craft and amplify their stories. Now I'm a part of the product team, where I help ideate and shape some of the most exciting tools at the core of our industry's need. I also have been involved with our amazing EDU program, training professors and bringing our product to over 100 universities and thousands of students. My time here at Access has flown by, and I could not be more excited about what's in store for our customers, our company, and myself as we all continue to get better every day.

歡迎參加 ACCESS Newswire 2026 年第一季財報電話會議。我叫 Laila Kalantari，是 ACCESS Newswire 的產品經理。我自 2022 年加入公司，最初在 newswire.com 業務部門，曾是 PR Optimizer 團隊的一員，協助客戶撰寫並放大他們的故事影響力。現在我在產品團隊，協助發想並塑造一些最令人振奮、且位於我們產業核心需求的工具。我也參與了我們很棒的 EDU 計畫，培訓教授，並將我們的產品帶進超過 100 所大學與數千名學生。我在 Access 的時間過得飛快，而我對於我們的客戶、公司，以及我自己在持續每天變得更好的過程中，未來將迎來的一切感到無比期待。

Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that statements made in this conference call concerning future revenues, results from operations, financial position, markets, economic conditions, product releases, partnerships, and any other statements that may be construed as predictions of future performance or events are forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. We will also discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures, which are provided for informational purposes and should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for GAAP results. With that, I'll turn the call over to our Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Brian Balbirnie and our Chief Financial Officer, Steve Knerr. Brian.

在開始之前，我想提醒各位，本次電話會議中關於未來營收、營運結果、財務狀況、市場、經濟情勢、產品發佈、合作夥伴關係，以及任何其他可能被解讀為對未來表現或事件之預測的陳述，均屬前瞻性陳述。這些陳述涉及已知與未知的風險與不確定性，可能導致實際結果與該等陳述所明示或暗示者存在重大差異。我們也將討論若干非 GAAP 財務衡量指標，該等指標僅供資訊參考，應與 GAAP 結果一併考量，而非用以取代 GAAP 結果。接下來，我把電話交給我們的創辦人兼執行長 Brian Balbirnie，以及我們的財務長 Steve Knerr。Brian。

Thank you, Leila, and good morning, everyone. And thank you for joining us to discuss Q1 2026 results. It has been a pleasure to see you grow here at ACCESS, Leila. I could not be more grateful for your customer-first passion. You're a big part of our product and CX team, and I'm sure I'm speaking to the rest of the company when I say thank you so much.

謝謝你，Leila，各位早安。也謝謝各位加入我們，一起討論 2026 年第一季的業績結果。很高興看到你在 ACCESS 的成長，Leila。我非常感謝你以客戶為先的熱忱。你是我們產品與 CX 團隊的重要一員，我相信我也代表公司其他同仁向你說聲：非常感謝。

With that, let me be direct with you from the onset. Q1 revenues came in at $5.3 million, down $472,000 sequentially from Q4 of last year and down $149,000 year-over-year. That is not where we want to be, and I want to acknowledge that plainly. Top-line growth is the mandate for 2026, and Q1 tells us we have to continue to push harder on new customer acquisition and volume. We are not satisfied with that number, and I will outline specifically what we are going to do about it. That said, there are several signals from Q1 that do give us a good amount of confidence in our business. First, our customer retention. This is a number I am genuinely proud of. We moved from retention rates in the high 80s in 2025 to 92% in Q1 of 2026. This is a fundamental shift in the health of our subscription business. Retention at this level tells us that customers are finding value in our platform and that our customer experience investments are working and that the product we launched are resonating with our customers. Churn was the story we talked about as risks in our Q4 call, and that is no longer the dominant story. The move to quarterly and annual billing, the rebuild of our customer success teams are paying off. 92% retention is a result that we can build upon.

那麼，讓我從一開始就直接說明。第一季營收為 530 萬美元，較去年第四季按季減少 47.2 萬美元，較去年同期減少 14.9 萬美元。這不是我們希望看到的結果，我想坦率地承認這一點。2026 年的核心任務是營收成長，而第一季告訴我們，必須在新客戶獲取與量能上持續更用力推進。我們對這個數字並不滿意，我也會具體說明我們將如何應對。話雖如此，第一季仍有幾個訊號讓我們對業務保持相當程度的信心。首先，是我們的客戶留存。這個數字讓我由衷感到自豪。我們從 2025 年接近 80% 後段的留存率，提升到 2026 年第一季的 92%。這是我們訂閱業務健康度的根本性轉變。如此水準的留存率顯示，客戶在我們的平台上獲得價值；我們在客戶體驗上的投資正在奏效；以及我們推出的產品正與客戶產生共鳴。在第四季電話會議中，我們談到流失（churn）是風險主軸，而現在它已不再是主導性的故事。改為季繳與年繳、以及重建客戶成功團隊，正在帶來回報。92% 的留存率是我們可以持續加以深化的成果。

Thank you both to our sales and CX teams for some great work since last year. Let's continue to learn, grow, and get better here. I am confident that we can reach our retention goals by year end. To be clear, that is greater than 95%. Second, ARR per subscriber has now increased for seven of the last eight quarters. This quarter, we continued that trend, reflecting the ongoing success of our trade-up and trade-in activities and early monetization of our new product tiers. Customers are now beginning to upgrade to our Access PR that includes social monitoring, Access Verified, and soon this current quarter will be our new Dynamic Agent MCP Analytics that we have previously called Kill the Report. Just in social modeling alone, we have seen a 20% ARR lift in subscribing customers. We see that pattern continuing as we move all of our PR subscriptions to higher tiers to include these amazing new product advancements. I will talk more about that later after Steve's prepared remarks.

也感謝我們的銷售與 CX 團隊，自去年以來做出了非常出色的工作。讓我們持續學習、成長，並在這裡變得更好。我有信心我們能在年底前達成留存目標。說清楚一點，目標是高於 95%。第二，單一訂閱戶的 ARR（年度經常性收入）在過去八個季度中有七個季度呈現成長。本季我們延續了這個趨勢，反映我們持續成功的升級（trade-up）與換購（trade-in）活動，以及新產品分級的早期變現。客戶現在開始升級到我們的 Access PR，其中包含社群監測、Access Verified，而在本季稍晚也將推出我們新的 Dynamic Agent MCP Analytics（先前稱為 Kill the Report）。僅就社群建模而言，我們已在訂閱客戶中看到 ARR 提升 20%。隨著我們把所有 PR 訂閱推進到更高等級、納入這些令人驚豔的新產品進展，我們預期這種模式將持續。在 Steve 的準備發言之後，我會再進一步說明。

Third, and before I hand it to Steve, I want to be transparent about the cost posture heading into the back half of the year. We are watching the macro environment carefully. These are headwinds in the broader industry, and we want to make sure that we're prepared. We're actively reviewing our SG&A structure to identify further efficiencies. Operating expenses in Q1 came in at $4.7, down $580,000, or 11% from the prior quarter, and down $281,000, or 6% year-over-year. This is meaningful progress. We intend to hold this discipline and find additional levers if the environment warrants it. We can manage costs without cutting into product innovation that is driving our platform differentiation and growth in our sales teams. The subscription story, however, continues to move in the right direction. Subscription revenues as a percentage of total revenue grew again this quarter, reaching approximately 60%. That shift is one of the most important structural changes happening in our business. And it is happening because our platform is earning that reoccurring commitment from our customers. Steve, over to you, sir.

第三點，在把時間交給 Steve 之前，我想就下半年成本態勢保持透明。我們正密切關注總體環境。整體產業面臨逆風，我們希望確保已做好準備。我們正積極檢視 SG&A（銷售、一般及行政）結構，以找出更多效率提升空間。第一季營業費用為 470 萬美元，較前一季減少 58 萬美元（降幅 11%），較去年同期減少 28.1 萬美元（降幅 6%）。這是有意義的進展。我們打算維持這樣的紀律，並在環境需要時尋找更多可調整的槓桿。我們可以在不犧牲產品創新（其正驅動平台差異化）以及不影響銷售團隊成長的前提下，管理成本。不過，訂閱業務的走勢仍持續朝正確方向前進。本季訂閱營收占總營收比重再度提升，達到約 60%。這項轉變是我們業務中最重要的結構性變化之一。而之所以能發生，是因為我們的平台正贏得客戶的持續性承諾。Steve，交給你了。

Thank you, Brian, and good morning, everyone. I will take you through the Q1 2026 financial results in detail. Total revenue for the first quarter of 2026 was $5.3 million, a decrease of $472,000, or 8%, compared to Q4 2025, and a decrease of $149,000, or 3%, compared to Q1 2025. We will address the revenue dynamic directly. Q1 carries inherent seasonality given the post-year-end timing, and press release volumes tend to be lower in Q1 relative to Q4. That said, we know we need to improve on the topline and are executing accordingly. Core press release revenue for Q1 2026 was approximately $4.4 million, down from $4.8 million in Q4 2025, however, consistent with normal seasonal volume patterns and consistent with Q1 2025. As part of this, our PR Platform and Media Suite revenue increased $200,000, up 23% sequentially and year-over-year. That growth reflects the early monetization of our new subscription tiers and the strength of platform adoption.

謝謝你，Brian，各位早安。我將帶各位詳細回顧 2026 年第一季的財務結果。2026 年第一季總營收為 530 萬美元，較 2025 年第四季減少 47.2 萬美元（降幅 8%），較 2025 年第一季減少 14.9 萬美元（降幅 3%）。我們將直接回應營收變動的原因。由於年終後的時間點，第一季具有固有的季節性，而新聞稿發布量相較第四季通常在第一季較低。即便如此，我們知道必須改善營收規模，並正據此執行。2026 年第一季核心新聞稿營收約為 440 萬美元，低於 2025 年第四季的 480 萬美元；不過，這符合正常的季節性量能型態，也與 2025 年第一季一致。在此之中，我們的 PR Platform 與 Media Suite 營收增加 20 萬美元，按季與年增皆為 23%。該成長反映我們新訂閱分級的早期變現，以及平台採用的強勁動能。

Revenue from our Pro plan was flat compared to Q4 2025, however, decreased $126,000, or 46%, from Q1 2025. Gross margin for Q1 2026 was 74%, compared to 77% in Q4 2025 and 78% in Q1 2025. The sequential decrease in gross margin percentage reflects a lower revenue base and a modest increase in cost of revenue due primarily to increased distribution costs. We believe gross margin will recover as volume and subscription revenue grow. The long-term trajectory of this metric remains upward. The structural advantages of our fixed cost distribution and AI-assisted editorial operations are intact.

我們的 Pro 方案收入與 2025 年第 4 季相比持平，但較 2025 年第 1 季減少 126,000 美元，降幅 46%。2026 年第 1 季毛利率為 74%，相較 2025 年第 4 季為 77%，以及 2025 年第 1 季為 78%。毛利率百分比的季減反映了較低的收入基礎，以及主要因配送成本上升而導致的營收成本小幅增加。我們相信，隨著交易量與訂閱收入成長，毛利率將會回升。此指標的長期走勢仍維持向上。我們固定成本配送與 AI 輔助編輯作業的結構性優勢依然完好。

Moving to operating expenses, total operating costs were $4.7 million in Q1 2026, down $580,000, or 11%, from Q4 2025, and down $281,000, or 6% year-over-year. This reflects disciplined cost management across the organization. General and administrative expenses were $1.8 million in Q1. Down $181,000 from Q4 2025 and down $172,000 year-over-year. Product development expenses came in at $560,000, down $60,000 sequentially and $173,000 compared to the same quarter of the prior year due to higher capitalized costs and lower contractor expenses. During Q1 2026, we capitalized $99,000 compared to $61,000 during Q4 of 2025 and $23,000 during Q1 of 2025. Sales and marketing expenses were $1.68 million, essentially flat sequentially and up modestly year-over-year as we invested in the PressRelease.com brand and continued trade show activity.

談到營業費用，2026 年第 1 季營業成本總額為 470 萬美元，較 2025 年第 4 季減少 58 萬美元（降幅 11%），且較去年同期減少 28.1 萬美元（降幅 6%）。這反映了我們在全組織範圍內嚴謹的成本管理。第 1 季一般及行政費用為 180 萬美元。較 2025 年第 4 季減少 18.1 萬美元，且較去年同期減少 17.2 萬美元。產品開發費用為 56 萬美元，因資本化成本較高及承包商費用較低，較前一季減少 6 萬美元，並較去年同期同季減少 17.3 萬美元。2026 年第 1 季我們資本化 9.9 萬美元，相較 2025 年第 4 季為 6.1 萬美元，2025 年第 1 季為 2.3 萬美元。銷售與行銷費用為 168 萬美元，季比基本持平，且因我們投資 PressRelease.com 品牌並持續參與展會活動，年比小幅上升。

Operating loss for Q1 2026 was $718,000. A slight improvement from Q4 2025 and a shade lower than Q1 2025. By a GAAP basis, net loss from continuing operations was $611,000 in Q1 2026, compared to $509,000 in Q4 2025 and $765,000 in Q1 of 2025. The improvement reflects both cost discipline and reduced interest expense relative to the prior year. On a non-GAAP basis, EBITDA for Q1 of 2026 and Q1 of 2025 was relatively flat compared to $251,000 or 4% of revenue in Q4 of 2025. Adjusted EBITDA for Q1 of 2026 and Q1 of 2025 was $564,000 or 11% and 10% of revenue respectively compared to $881,000 or 15% of revenue in Q4 of 2025. The sequential decline in adjusted EBITDA was primarily a function of lower revenue in the quarter.

2026 年第 1 季營業損失為 71.8 萬美元。較 2025 年第 4 季略有改善，且較 2025 年第 1 季略低。按 GAAP 基礎計算，2026 年第 1 季持續營運淨損為 61.1 萬美元，相較 2025 年第 4 季為 50.9 萬美元，2025 年第 1 季為 76.5 萬美元。此改善反映了成本紀律，以及相較去年利息費用下降。按非 GAAP 基礎計算，2026 年第 1 季與 2025 年第 1 季的 EBITDA 相對持平；而 2025 年第 4 季為 25.1 萬美元，約占收入 4%。2026 年第 1 季與 2025 年第 1 季的調整後 EBITDA 分別為 56.4 萬美元，約占收入 11% 與 10%；相較之下，2025 年第 4 季為 88.1 萬美元，約占收入 15%。調整後 EBITDA 的季減主要是因本季收入較低所致。

We ended the quarter with a solid cash position and continued to generate adjusted free cash flow. Cash flow from operations increased to $871,000 for Q1 of 2025, compared to $258,000 in Q4 of 2025 and $747,000 in Q1 of 2025. The deferred revenue balance remains healthy, reflecting the forward-committed nature of our subscription business. Looking at our SG&A posture, as Brian mentioned, we are actively evaluating further efficiencies. We have demonstrated the ability to reduce costs without compromising the product roadmap. With potential industry headwinds on the horizon, we want to be positioned to act quickly if needed. The operational discipline we have built over the past 18 months gives us the flexibility to do that. I will now turn it back over to Brian.

本季結束時，我們的現金部位穩健，並持續產生調整後自由現金流。營運活動現金流增加至 2025 年第 1 季的 87.1 萬美元，相較 2025 年第 4 季為 25.8 萬美元，且 2025 年第 1 季為 74.7 萬美元。遞延收入餘額仍維持健康，反映我們訂閱業務具前瞻性承諾的特性。就我們的 SG&A 立場而言，如 Brian 所提，我們正積極評估進一步的效率提升。我們已證明能在不影響產品路線圖的情況下降低成本。在潛在產業逆風可能出現之際，我們希望在必要時能迅速採取行動。過去 18 個月建立的營運紀律，讓我們具備這樣的彈性。我現在把時間交回給 Brian。

Thanks, Steve. Let me take a few minutes to give you the operating picture of what we are focused on for the rest of the year. As I said earlier, revenue growth is the priority, and I want to be specific about the levers that we are pulling. First, the new product suites we brought to market at the end of Q4 and into Q1 is now in full commercialization mode. Social monitoring has been enabled as both a subscription upgrade and as part of our new Axis PR subscription plans. This is generating incremental ARR. The $200 per month lift per upgrading subscriber that we discussed last quarter is real. As of Q2, it has begun, and we are seeing the 20% in ARR lift, as I mentioned earlier in the opening remarks. The benefit is across the initially introduced Axis PR customers, of which 60% opted to take advantage of this benefit, generating an implied $550,000 in ARR that we expect to see over the next 12 months.

謝謝你，Steve。我花幾分鐘向各位說明今年剩餘時間我們聚焦的營運概況。如我先前所說，收入成長是首要任務，我也想具體說明我們正在拉動的槓桿。首先，我們在第 4 季末到第 1 季推出的新產品套件，現在已全面進入商業化模式。社群監測已啟用，既可作為訂閱升級，也可作為我們新 Axis PR 訂閱方案的一部分。這正在帶來增量 ARR。我們上季討論的每位升級訂閱者每月增加 200 美元的提升幅度確實存在。截至第 2 季，這已開始發生，我們也如同在開場致詞中提到的，看到 ARR 提升 20%。此效益涵蓋最初導入的 Axis PR 客戶，其中 60% 選擇利用此項效益，推算可帶來約 55 萬美元的 ARR，我們預期在未來 12 個月內逐步體現。

Second, Access Verified. Our AI-powered editorial assistant is now customer-facing and receiving strong early feedback. Early customers have reported meaningful time savings and improved confidence in their contents prior to distribution. This is not just a feature. It is a competitive differentiator that not any other wire service can match in its depth. We have several upgrade iterations of this product schedule for the year, and we expect to be in a meaningful add-on driver to our plans. We envision both this and the next topic here coming up, coming together closely as a single offering over the next 12 months. And that is our dynamic model context protocol, which we say MCP for short is an industry term. It is our in-depth analytics report that I have coined for the last two quarters that killed the report. Our very own AI-assisted content performance and analytics engine, which is live for customers right now. We made good on this commitment, the feedback from our initial customers over the last couple of weeks. Who were granted an MVP at no cost to take a peek and experience the difference between our transparent real-time intelligence reporting and the legacy opaque distribution reports has been exactly what we expected.

第二，Access Verified。我們的 AI 驅動編輯助理現在已面向客戶，並獲得強勁的早期回饋。早期客戶回報在發布前的內容處理上節省了大量時間，並提升了對內容的信心。這不只是一項功能。它是一項競爭差異化優勢，其他任何通訊社服務在深度上都無法匹敵。我們今年已排定此產品的多次升級迭代，並預期它將成為我們方案中重要的加購驅動因素。我們設想此項目與接下來要談的主題，將在未來 12 個月內緊密結合，形成單一產品供應。那就是我們的動態模型情境協定（我們簡稱 MCP，這是業界用語）。這是我們深入的分析報告，我在過去兩季將其命名為「終結報告的報告」。這是我們自有的 AI 輔助內容成效與分析引擎，目前已對客戶上線。我們兌現了這項承諾，過去幾週來自首批客戶的回饋。這些客戶獲得免費的 MVP 版本以先行體驗，並感受我們透明的即時智慧報告與傳統不透明的發布報告之間的差異；結果完全符合我們的預期。

This is a market-differentiating product, and we expect it to drive both retention and upsell. There will be incremental revenue from this product for our entire customer base, where customers can elect to buy up to have this analytics engine on a per-release basis or a subscription basis. We are confident, like our social monitoring solution, this new AI assistant content performance and analytics engine will deliver immediate revenue here in Q2 and help drive both ARR to our guided goals, as well as provide our customers something that they just can't replace anywhere else. I explained this to our customers the other day. It's the report that you thought you should have gotten for decades in this business, and we're the first to bring it to you.

這是一項具市場差異化的產品，我們預期它將同時推動留存與加購。此產品將為我們整體客戶群帶來增量收入；客戶可選擇按每則發布（per-release）或以訂閱方式購買此分析引擎。我們有信心，如同我們的社群監測解決方案，這個新的 AI 助理內容成效與分析引擎將在第 2 季立即帶來收入，並協助推動 ARR 達成我們的指引目標，同時為客戶提供在其他地方無法替代的價值。我前幾天向客戶解釋過這點。這就是你在這個產業裡幾十年來一直以為應該拿到的那份報告，而我們是第一個把它帶給你的人。

Also, as we grow our customer base, we want to be thoughtful about tools and technologies we might never build that we feel partners can do a better job for our customers. This is really an expansion of our trusted relationships we have had on the public side for over a decade. Exchanges like New York Stock Exchange, OTC Markets, and London Stock Exchange have been a part of our platform. Now we're just going after brands that have additional trusted platforms in both public and private companies. This marketplace that we talked about last quarter is fully operational, and Hootsuite is leading the way as our first integration partner and additional partnerships coming in the pipeline. The ability to schedule, publish, and analyze social content within the same platform used to distribute press releases is something our enterprise customers have been asking for. We expect this integration to contribute to new enterprise acquisitions in the second-half of the year. We are also continuing to work with Hootsuite on cross-selling opportunities to better arm each other's customers with the best of breed products.

此外，隨著我們擴大客戶基礎，我們也希望審慎看待一些我們可能永遠不會自行開發的工具與技術；我們認為合作夥伴能為客戶做得更好。這其實是我們在公開市場端十多年來所建立之可信任關係的延伸。像紐約證券交易所、OTC Markets 以及倫敦證券交易所等交易所，一直都是我們平台的一部分。現在我們只是把目標鎖定在同時涵蓋公開與私募公司、並擁有額外可信平台的品牌。我們在上季提到的這個市集已全面上線運作，Hootsuite 作為我們第一個整合合作夥伴領先帶頭，且管線中還有更多合作夥伴即將加入。能在同一個用於發布新聞稿的平台內，完成社群內容的排程、發布與分析，是我們企業客戶一直在要求的功能。我們預期這項整合將在今年下半年帶動新的企業客戶導入。我們也持續與 Hootsuite 合作推動交叉銷售機會，讓彼此的客戶都能配備同級最佳（best of breed）的產品。

Moving along to subscribers, we continue to focus on quality of subscriptions over raw count, but we did sell more this quarter coming in at 110 new customers in Q1, and we saw the retention improvement I highlighted earlier. Our pipeline for our ACCESS EDU program is beginning to convert with schools and their associated PR agencies entering paid subscriptions. The EDU investment is long-term growth channels for us, and we're beginning to see early revenue signals. In Q1, ARR increased 15% year-over-year from 11,139 to 12,803. We also ended the quarter up in total subscriptions, ending the period at 1,119 subscribers, up 17% from 955. Sequentially, ARR increased 2%, and our subscribers increased 10%. The combination of these results has helped us manage our customer acquisition costs and improve them over last year, something we continue to believe we can improve as our brands gain more traction in the markets. Our subscription business retention rate continues to improve in the numbers of new customers coming in and continues to grow, obviously translating into higher EBITDA margins, sustained growth and improved gross margins.

接著談到訂閱用戶，我們仍然更重視訂閱品質而非單純數量，但本季確實賣得更多，Q1 新增 110 位新客戶，且我們也看到我先前提到的留存率改善。我們的 ACCESS EDU 計畫銷售管線開始轉換，學校及其合作的公關代理商正進入付費訂閱。EDU 的投入對我們而言是長期成長通路，我們也開始看到早期營收訊號。Q1 的 ARR 年增 15%，由 11,139 增至 12,803。本季結束時，總訂閱數也上升，期末訂閱用戶為 1,119，較 955 成長 17%。以季比來看，ARR 成長 2%，訂閱用戶成長 10%。這些成果的組合幫助我們控管客戶取得成本，並較去年有所改善；我們仍相信，隨著品牌在市場上獲得更多動能，這項指標還能持續改善。我們的訂閱業務留存率在新客戶導入的數據上持續改善並持續成長，顯然也轉化為更高的 EBITDA 利潤率、持續成長以及毛利率改善。

The latter we need to improve, but volumes are key to the majority of our PR business as a fixed cost. We do track our customer acquisition costs by subscriber and non-subscriber. For the quarter ended March, customer acquisition costs for a subscriber was $5,292 and a non-subscriber was $2,279. We're seeing much lower customer acquisition costs in our pressrelease.com business, but it's too new for us to have a baseline yet to discuss, but plan to do that by year's end. The remaining part of 2026 and into 2027, we have a significant amount of new innovation advancements coming to our subscription business. One most notably is a full amplification of a story and how and where it can be told at the right time to the right audiences. We have already tested a good bit of this on our Model Context Protocol platform and have gained significant excitement from industry experts. We are committed to what we have started this year, and that is that to out-innovate our peers, deliver value to our customers beyond a press release, and continually innovate where our customers ask.

後者我們需要改善，但由於我們的公關業務多數屬於固定成本結構，量能是關鍵。我們確實會按訂閱用戶與非訂閱用戶追蹤客戶取得成本。截至 3 月止的季度，訂閱用戶的客戶取得成本為 5,292 美元，非訂閱用戶為 2,279 美元。我們在 pressrelease.com 業務看到更低的客戶取得成本，但因為仍太新，尚未建立可供討論的基準；我們計畫在年底前提供相關基準。在 2026 年剩餘期間並延伸至 2027 年，我們的訂閱業務將推出大量新的創新進展。其中最值得一提的是，對一則故事進行完整擴散（amplification），並在正確的時間、以正確的方式與渠道，傳遞給正確的受眾。我們已在 Model Context Protocol 平台上測試了相當一部分，並獲得產業專家的高度期待。我們承諾延續今年已啟動的方向：以超越同業的創新速度，為客戶提供超越新聞稿的價值，並在客戶提出需求之處持續創新。

In closing, yes, revenues were down slightly year-over-year, and yes, we experienced some macro industry volume fluctuations, but our customer counts continue to deliver, our ARR increased, and the number of subscribers grew, and our technology is being delivered at a higher rate than ever before. Lastly, for the quarter, we continue to repurchase our common shares and have a little more than half of our repurchase plan left, and we look forward to completing the plan and instituting further repurchases this year. We are focused, and our teams continue to work hard to improve our customer acquisition costs, retention, and overall new customer activity, as well as expand our core product features. And in combination, this will allow us to continue to generate cash flows from operations, increase our EBITDA margins, and increase our overall market share. I'm happy now to turn the call over to the operator for questions.

最後總結，是的，營收年比略有下滑；是的，我們也經歷了一些宏觀產業量能波動；但我們的客戶數仍持續交出成果，ARR 增加，訂閱用戶數成長，而我們交付技術的速度也比以往任何時候都更快。另外，本季我們持續回購普通股，目前回購計畫尚餘略多於一半；我們期待完成該計畫，並在今年推動進一步的回購。我們保持專注，團隊也持續努力改善客戶取得成本、留存率與整體新客戶活動，同時擴展核心產品功能。綜合而言，這將使我們能持續從營運中創造現金流、提升 EBITDA 利潤率，並提高整體市占率。我很高興現在把電話交給接線員進行提問。

(Operator Instructions) Luke Horton, Northland Securities

(接線員指示) Luke Horton，Northland Securities

Hey, guys. Thanks for taking the questions. Brian, just wanted to start off with the product development front. I guess, what are you most excited about here in 2026 with the product suite, whether that be the access verified, the MCP, analytics reporting, and social monitoring? I guess, how would you rank excitement level amongst products?

嗨，各位。謝謝讓我提問。Brian，我想先從產品開發面向開始。我想問，對於 2026 年的產品組合，你最期待的是哪些部分？不論是 access verified、MCP、分析報告，或社群監測。你會如何在各產品之間排序你的期待程度？

Yeah, that's a good question, though. It's a tough one to answer, right? To be fair, I'd have to say from all of us as shareholders, I'd say social monitoring because it has already proven that we've gotten conversion to the trade-up to get customers to increase the spend and get value from that platform. So to be fair, I think for all of us as shareholders, that is a very important metric. It's good to build products. It's great to put them to market fast and iterate them. But it is really rewarding for us to see that actually gain traction from a revenue contribution perspective that we'll see.

是的，這是個好問題。但也很難回答，對吧？坦白說，若以我們所有股東的角度來看，我會說是社群監測，因為它已經證明我們能促成升級轉換（trade-up），讓客戶提高支出並從該平台獲得價值。所以坦白說，對我們所有股東而言，那是一個非常重要的衡量指標。打造產品很好。快速推向市場並持續迭代也很棒。但對我們來說，真正有成就感的是看到它在營收貢獻的角度上確實開始獲得動能。

The other products, something I'm not excited about, though, ACCESS Verified is a good intelligence tool to help our customers and our editors create content and validate content quicker. That is just a really good differentiator to the market. The reporting product, kill the report. I mean, look, we need to kill the report. This industry is old. This industry is. Antiquated, this industry needs to change. And we've tried desperately to be the new incumbent to follow and be like them. And to be fair with them, we don't want to be like them anymore. So, we expect that killer report to also be as impactful as social monitoring as well this year. So, I'm very excited about that. And not to elongate the response, Luke, but I'm really super excited. About where we're headed and what our product development operations teams are already building for the latter part of this year. And that really is taking every one of the ecosystems that we interact with every day.

至於其他產品，並不是我不期待；ACCESS Verified 是一個很好的情報工具，能幫助我們的客戶與編輯更快地產出內容並驗證內容。這對市場而言是一個非常好的差異化。報告產品方面，「終結報告」（kill the report）。我的意思是，你看，我們需要終結報告。這個產業很老。這個產業就是。過時了，這個產業需要改變。而我們曾拼命想成為新的既有者（incumbent），去追隨並變得像他們一樣。但坦白說，我們不想再像他們了。因此，我們預期今年這個「殺手級報告」也會像社群監測一樣具有影響力。所以我對此非常期待。Luke，不想把回答拉太長，但我真的非常期待。我們的方向，以及我們的產品開發與營運團隊正在為今年下半年打造的內容。而那其實是把我們每天互動的每一個生態系統都納入其中。

As well as our partners and folks down the hall. And our shareholders know that we're very focused on investor relations and public relations. But the CorpCom, the CMO's office, has a significant amount more budget, not only budget for PR in general, a budget for marketing and communication tools. And so we're not want to be the answer for everything. We're never going to replace their HubSpots or Hootsuites or anything like that. But there is an ecosystem of content curation and amplification that we have built that. We're excited about taking that product to market. And that will really strengthen our ability to go upstream and go linear in all industries so that we can bring customers into our platform at a much higher rate, which would reduce our cost to acquire a customer and elongate that profitability long-term. So, it's tough, but I think I'd lead in as best order as I could. Okay.

以及我們的合作夥伴和走廊那頭的同事也是如此。我們的股東也知道，我們非常專注於投資人關係與公共關係。但 CorpCom（CMO 辦公室）擁有更可觀的預算，不僅是一般公關的預算，還包括行銷與溝通工具的預算。因此，我們不想成為所有事情的唯一答案。我們永遠不會取代他們的 HubSpot、Hootsuite 或任何類似工具。但我們已建立一個內容策展與擴散放大的生態系。我們很期待把這個產品推向市場。這將真正強化我們向上游拓展、並在各產業以更線性的方式推進的能力，讓我們能以更高的速度把客戶帶進我們的平台，進而降低獲客成本，並在長期拉長獲利能力。所以這很不容易，但我想我已盡可能按最好的順序來說明。好的。

No, yeah, great. I appreciate that. And then. I guess, from a sales effort, how do you guys balance? I mean, you added 180 new subscribers during the quarter, but also, I mean, the social monitoring platform, you had a 20% lift in ARR. I guess, how do you balance trying to acquire net new customers versus cross-sell or upsell opportunities?

不，對，很好。我很感謝你的說明。然後。我想從銷售投入的角度，你們如何取得平衡？我是說，你們本季新增了 180 位新訂閱戶，但同時，社群監測平台的 ARR 也提升了 20%。我想問的是，你們如何在爭取淨新增客戶與交叉銷售或向上銷售機會之間取得平衡？

Yeah, it's these guys and gals work hard, right? We may have what appears to be. High SG&A, more sales and marketing expense. But really, to answer your question, when the salesperson or territory manager is, he needs to get to every customer he's got, along with marketing efforts to increase the spend and increase subscriptions and show them value of new product, they're also charged with going and getting new customers. And they've got to be at events, right? We're doing a lot more events today than we ever have before. That's paying off in our pipeline, and we need to continue to do that. And so, to really figure it out, when you look and analyze the numbers, there's just not enough touches. We need more people. And so we hired more people in the prior quarter here to be able to help drive some outbound activity because I think I've said this for years, what matters most is customers, right? The more customers, everything takes care of itself. Volumes start to come at a higher rate. It allows us to allow our really good sales and development people to build relationships, to increase. These ARRs and/or just utilization in general. So it doesn't come without expense. They do wear a lot of hats. And the priority last quarter was for them to sell good quality subscription customers and get the customers about our new ARR add-ons. And they did that well. We just need to do everything it costs too.

是的，這些夥伴們真的很努力，對吧？我們的狀況看起來可能像是。SG&A 偏高、銷售與行銷費用較多。但回到你的問題，當業務或區域經理需要觸達他手上每一位客戶，配合行銷活動提高客戶支出、增加訂閱、並向他們展示新產品的價值時，他們同時也被要求去開發新客戶。而且他們必須參加活動，對吧？我們現在辦的活動比以往任何時候都多。這正在反映在我們的銷售管線上，我們也必須持續這麼做。所以要真正把它釐清，當你去看並分析數字時，會發現觸達次數就是不夠。我們需要更多人手。因此我們在上一季就增聘了人員，以協助推動一些外呼開發活動；因為我多年來一直說，最重要的是客戶，對吧？客戶越多，其他事情自然就會到位。量能會以更高的速度進來。也讓我們非常優秀的銷售與業務開發人員能建立關係、進一步提升。這些 ARR，或更廣義的使用量。所以這並非沒有成本。他們確實身兼多職。而上一季的優先事項，是讓他們賣出高品質的訂閱型客戶，並讓客戶了解我們新的 ARR 加購項目。他們做得很好。我們只是需要把所有該做的事都做到，無論成本如何。

Yeah, no, it makes sense.

是的，嗯，這很合理。

And then lastly, just average ARR per subscription.

最後一個問題，關於每個訂閱的平均 ARR。

That continues to grow. I think you said seven out of the last eight quarters. Could you elaborate on how much of this is coming from price increases versus kind of upgrading to higher product tiers across the platform?

這個數字持續成長。我記得你說過，過去八個季度中有七個季度都在成長。你能否進一步說明，這其中有多少來自於調價（漲價），又有多少是來自於在整個平台上升級到更高的產品等級？

Yeah, so in Q1, there was no pricing increases to our customers that were already subscribers. So, to your point that generally folks in our industry have price increasing all the time. We did not increase subscription customer contracts. New subscription customers were at a higher add-on, right? We did increase price and take price in some of those areas, but we didn't increase current subscribers. And now Q2, it's also done the same because of the social monitoring add-ons as well. We want value out of our platform for our customer, and we want that value proven. It's, to be fair, easier to take price and increase ARR with them when they've got value early on. And so it's very important to take our current subscribers and not push them too much on price at this point. We're proving value to those folks. And so new deals were higher. As we've indicated, we're going to continue to message that we believe that long-term ARR will continue to grow. We're doing a really good job of that here in Q2 as well, and we don't see that changing in the foreseeable future.

是的，所以在第一季，我們沒有對既有訂閱客戶調漲價格。因此，如你所說，一般來講我們這個產業的公司經常在調價。但我們並沒有調高訂閱客戶的合約價格。新訂閱客戶則是以較高的加購組合進來，對吧？我們確實在某些領域提高了價格並取得了更高的定價，但我們沒有調整既有訂閱戶。而第二季也同樣如此，這也與社群監測加購項目有關。我們希望客戶能從我們的平台獲得價值，而且我們希望那個價值是被證明的。公平地說，當他們在早期就獲得價值時，我們更容易調價並提高他們的 ARR。因此，在這個時間點，對現有訂閱戶不要在價格上施壓過多非常重要。我們正在向這些客戶證明價值。所以新成交的案子金額更高。如同我們所指出的，我們會持續傳達我們相信長期 ARR 會持續成長。我們在第二季也做得非常好，而且我們不認為在可預見的未來會有改變。

Okay, got it. Thanks for that, Brian, and thanks for taking the questions.

好的，了解。謝謝你，Brian，也謝謝你回答問題。

You're welcome. Thank you, Luke.

不客氣。謝謝你，Luke。

Jacob Stephan, Lake Street Capital Markets.

Jacob Stephan，Lake Street Capital Markets。

Hey guys, I appreciate you taking the questions. I guess first I just wanted to touch on the revenue, decline. I guess when we look at kind of, pro plan products, customer attrition there, webcasting events, just seasonal weakness, I guess when in the quarter did it kind of start to shift in the other direction?

各位好，感謝你們回答問題。我想先談一下營收下滑。我想，當我們看 Pro plan 產品、那邊的客戶流失、網路直播活動、以及一些季節性疲弱等因素時，我想問在本季的什麼時點開始出現往另一個方向轉變？

Yeah, it's interesting. And devils are in the details, right? And it's tough in the earnings call situation to pull everything out and allow folks to digest it as fast as we were talking through some of the data. So, when we look at our ProPlan customers, to be fair, as we've seen revenues change dramatically over the last kind of year and a half there, we're not losing the customers. A good percentage of them are buying the XSPR subscription. So, we're moving them to a more. Service model than a fully managed model. And so, as that continues to happen, we're going to see that contribution from that product perhaps continue to decline where it all becomes then our access PR, our access IR subscribing products. And so, I don't expect that part to change. What we do see in seasonality is that companies on the public side ramp up through.

是的，這很有意思。而且魔鬼藏在細節裡，對吧？在財報電話會議這種情境下，要把所有內容都攤開來講，並讓大家在我們快速帶過一些數據時就能立刻消化，確實很難。所以，當我們看 ProPlan 客戶時，公平地說，雖然過去大約一年半我們看到營收有很大的變化，但我們並沒有流失這些客戶。其中相當比例的客戶正在購買 XSPR 訂閱。所以我們正在把他們轉向一個更偏。服務模式，而不是完全代管的模式。因此，隨著這種情況持續發生，我們可能會看到該產品的貢獻持續下滑，並逐步轉為由我們的 Access PR、Access IR 等訂閱型產品所承接。所以我不預期那一部分會改變。至於季節性，我們確實看到公開市場端的公司會逐步拉升到。

Into Q2, and you guys know this, we all know this, the amount of events and conferences and activity going on between Q1 and then annual meeting time, things that happen, the activity tends to kick up pretty quickly here. And so that is back to the utilization business, right, which is about 40% of our business today is driven from some of that activity. As we continue to increase our percentage of revenue from subscriptions, that seasonality conversation goes away even more. And we had it a lot in years past with our compliance business. It has become minimalized, and it will become de minimis here very shortly. And to be fair, we look forward to those days. We want to guide this business that by this time next year that we're close to 80% of everything is ARR, and we don't have that seasonality shift. And customers can buy up into plans that fit their volume needs, and we don't have to worry about that shift there. I hope that answers your question.

進入第二季，你們也知道這點，我們都知道，從第一季到年度股東會期間，活動、會議與各種行動的數量——這段期間的活動通常會很快升溫。因此這又回到使用量型業務，對吧？目前我們大約 40% 的業務是由這類活動所驅動。隨著我們持續提高訂閱收入占比，關於季節性的討論就會更淡化。過去幾年在我們的合規業務上，季節性影響很明顯。現在已經被大幅降低，而且很快就會變得微不足道。公平地說，我們也期待那樣的日子。我們希望引導這項業務在明年這個時候，接近 80% 的一切都是 ARR，如此就不會有季節性波動。客戶可以升級到符合其量能需求的方案，而我們也不必擔心那樣的波動。希望這回答了你的問題。

Got it. Understood. Maybe just next one for me. You guys had an interesting kind of number in your deck here, 550,000 implied ARR. I guess, is that for the entire solution with social monitoring or can you kind of unpack that for me?

了解。明白。那我就問下一題。你們在簡報裡有個很有意思的數字，隱含 ARR 為 550,000。我想問，這是包含社群監測在內的整體解決方案，還是你可以幫我拆解說明一下？

Yeah, no, that's a great question. And that is just the revenue dollar value attributable to the social monitoring add-on. It doesn't impact or affect what they had already spent and/or spending with this in the future. So, if a customer is spending $12,000 a year for their Access PR subscription, and they opted to say, yes, I want social monitoring, their annual increase went up $2,400. So, it's additive to the top of it. So that 550 is the aggregate number, it's actually 556, is the aggregate revenue over the next 12 months that we'll earn from those customers that bought the upgrade. But those customers still are paying for the other part of the subscription. So it's just a component, if that makes sense.

是的，這問題問得很好。那個數字只是可歸因於社群監測加購項的營收金額。它不會影響或改變客戶之前已經花的錢，以及／或未來在這方面的支出。所以，如果某位客戶每年為他們的 Access PR 訂閱支付 12,000 美元，而他們選擇「是的，我要社群監測」，那他們的年度費用就會增加 2,400 美元。也就是在原本基礎上再加上去。因此那個 550 的數字是彙總數，實際上是 556，代表未來 12 個月我們將從那些購買升級的客戶身上取得的彙總營收。但那些客戶仍然會繼續支付訂閱的其他部分。所以那只是其中一個組成部分，希望這樣說得通。

Okay, yeah, no, that's helpful. And last one for me, wondering if you could give an update on the press release, the volume competition. Where do you guys stand today?

好的，了解，這很有幫助。我最後一題，想請你更新一下新聞稿的量、也就是量的競爭情況。你們目前的狀況如何？

Yeah, we saw, Steve and I both talked about, it had been a little bit. We're seeing volume across the market come down, right? There is a little bit of decrease in store volume, so we're kind of neck and neck, literally like a 10th of a percent, with Business Wire and us in the third position. Globe and PR Newswire still are at the top one and two. In that space for us, as much as it's been a metric for us to look at volume, we now have to look at volume internally by what we look at as our core customers and our subscribing customers that are core to us as well. So, we want to manage what volumes come from subscriptions and which ones come from a PAYGO or inbound e-comm ways.

是的，我和 Steve 都提到，已經有一段時間了。我們看到整個市場的量在下降，對吧？店端量有些微下滑，所以我們和 Business Wire 在第三名的位置幾乎並駕齊驅，差距真的只有 0.1 個百分點左右。Globe 和 PR Newswire 仍然分別是第一和第二。對我們而言，雖然量一直是我們用來觀察的指標，但現在我們也必須從內部角度來看量：也就是我們所認定的核心客戶，以及同樣對我們很核心的訂閱客戶所帶來的量。因此，我們希望管理哪些量來自訂閱，哪些量來自 PAYGO 或入站電商等方式。

So I think I'll give an equal, we haven't really lost much traction, it's just we've all come down just a little bit in volume in the industry. And I expect that to kick back up here for the remaining part of the year. If I go back three or four years, I've seen the same kind of things happen where volume will drop a little bit across the board, but by no way is there significant volume drops for us or anybody else in the industry. So I think industry may be at a no-growth mode right now, but for us, to be fair, we're in the subscription communications business now more than we just are selling a press release business, and so I'm not as worried about that if that. Happens more often than not.

所以我想我會給一個相對中性的說法：我們其實沒有失去太多動能，只是整個產業的量都小幅下滑了一點。我預期在今年剩餘時間裡會再回升。如果我回看三、四年前，我也看過類似情況：整體量會一起小幅下滑，但絕對不是我們或產業其他人出現顯著的量下跌。所以我認為產業目前可能處於零成長模式，但就我們而言，公平地說，我們現在更像是在做訂閱式的傳播／溝通業務，而不只是賣新聞稿的業務，所以如果這種情況更常發生，我也不會那麼擔心。多半是如此。

Okay, got it. I appreciate all the color.

好的，了解。謝謝你提供這麼多細節。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. And that does conclude today's Q&A session. I will now turn the call over to Brian Bobberney for closing remarks.

謝謝。以上即為今天的問答環節。接下來我把電話交給 Brian Bobberney 做結語。

Well, thank you.

好，謝謝。

Thank you to everybody joining us today, both on the webcast and the teleconference. Appreciate the questions and follow-ups. I know there's going to be more as you digest data. The 10-Q will be filed here this afternoon after market close. And I'll be spending the rest of my day at the Sone Conference. So if any of you here in New York and want to stop by, have a chat, I've got a couple of minutes between my one-on-ones. I'm happy and would love to meet you face-to-face and do that.

感謝今天透過網路直播與電話會議加入我們的各位。也謝謝大家的提問與追問。我知道你們消化數據後還會有更多問題。10-Q 將在今天下午收盤後提交。而我今天剩下的時間會在 Sone Conference。所以如果你們有人也在紐約、想過來聊聊，我在一對一會議之間有幾分鐘空檔。我很樂意，也很希望能當面見到各位並交流。

I wish you good earnings season, and I'll talk to you next quarter.

祝各位財報季順利，我們下個季度再聊。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. This does conclude today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time.

謝謝。今天的會議到此結束。您現在可以掛斷電話。

Thank you for your participation.

感謝您的參與。