ASGN Inc (ASGN) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the ASGN Incorporated First Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Kimberly Esterkin, Investor Relations. Thank you, Kimberly. You may begin.

您好，歡迎來到 ASGN Incorporated 2023 年第一季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）提醒一下，正在錄製此會議。現在我很高興向您介紹主持人，投資者關係部的 Kimberly Esterkin。謝謝你，金伯利。你可以開始了。

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us today for ASGN's First Quarter Conference Call. With me are Ted Hanson, Chief Executive Officer; Rand Blazer, President; and Marie Perry, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝你，運營商。下午好，感謝您今天加入我們的 ASGN 第一季度電話會議。和我一起的是首席執行官泰德·漢森 (Ted Hanson)；總裁蘭德·布雷澤 (Rand Blazer)；和首席財務官 Marie Perry。

Before we get started, I would like to remind everyone that our commentary contains forward-looking statements. Although we believe these statements are reasonable, they are subject to risks and uncertainties, and as such, our actual results could differ materially from those statements. Certain of these risks and uncertainties are described in today's press release and in our SEC filings. We do not assume any obligation to update statements made on this call.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒大家，我們的評論包含前瞻性陳述。儘管我們認為這些陳述是合理的，但它們存在風險和不確定性，因此，我們的實際結果可能與這些陳述存在重大差異。今天的新聞稿和我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中描述了其中的某些風險和不確定性。我們不承擔任何更新本次電話會議聲明的義務。

For your convenience, our prepared remarks and supplemental materials can be found in the Investor Relations section of our website at investors.asgn.com. Please also note that on this call, we will be referencing certain non-GAAP measures, such as adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and free cash flow. These non-GAAP measures are intended to supplement the comparable GAAP measures. Reconciliations between GAAP and non-GAAP measures are included in today's press release.

為了您的方便，我們準備好的評論和補充材料可以在我們網站 investors.asgn.com 的投資者關係部分找到。另請注意，在本次電話會議上，我們將參考某些非 GAAP 指標，例如調整後的 EBITDA、調整後的淨收入和自由現金流。這些非 GAAP 措施旨在補充可比的 GAAP 措施。 GAAP 和非 GAAP 措施之間的對賬包含在今天的新聞稿中。

I will now turn the call over to Ted Hanson, Chief Executive Officer.

我現在將把電話轉給首席執行官泰德漢森。

Thank you, Kimberly, and thank you for joining ASGN's First Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. Continuing to execute solidly in the core strategic areas of our business, ASGN's revenues for the first quarter of 2023 improved 3.5% as compared to the prior year period. IT consulting revenues, including both commercial and federal government work, surpassed the 50% mark at $568.4 million or 50.4% of the first quarter revenues compared to 42.4% of revenues in the prior year quarter.

謝謝 Kimberly，也感謝您加入 ASGN 的 2023 年第一季度財報電話會議。繼續在我們業務的核心戰略領域紮實執行，ASGN 2023 年第一季度的收入比上年同期增長 3.5%。包括商業和聯邦政府工作在內的 IT 諮詢收入超過 50%，達到 5.684 億美元，佔第一季度收入的 50.4%，而去年同期為 42.4%。

The strong growth of this business, particularly in light of macro conditions, reconfirms our strategic decision to double down on high-end, higher-value consulting work for Fortune 1000 and federal government clients. We have the right group of professionals in place to successfully execute against this long-term plan.

該業務的強勁增長，尤其是在宏觀條件下，再次證實了我們的戰略決策，即加倍為財富 1000 強和聯邦政府客戶提供高端、更高價值的諮詢服務。我們擁有合適的專業人員團隊來成功執行這一長期計劃。

And I want to thank all of the ASGN team for your efforts this past quarter in pushing our growth strategy forward. In contrast to commercial consulting and federal government work, the areas of our business that are more discretionary and cyclical in nature, namely assignment revenue, declined. We programmed for some of this in our guidance. However, the decline toward the end of the quarter was greater than we had initially anticipated, and this negatively impacted our adjusted EBITDA margin.

我要感謝所有 ASGN 團隊在上個季度為推動我們的增長戰略所做的努力。與商業諮詢和聯邦政府工作相比，我們業務中更具自由裁量性和周期性的領域，即外派收入，有所下降。我們在指南中針對其中一些進行了編程。然而，本季度末的下降幅度大於我們最初的預期，這對我們調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率產生了負面影響。

Nevertheless, at 10.9% for the first quarter, which is seasonally the lowest, adjusted EBITDA margins remained solidly in the double digits. Importantly, the long-term adjusted EBITDA margin profile of our business has not changed and is expected to further improve over time, based on our move toward a more consultative model.

儘管如此，第一季度調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 10.9%，為季節性最低，但仍穩穩地保持在兩位數。重要的是，根據我們轉向更具協商性的模式，我們業務的長期調整後 EBITDA 利潤率狀況沒有改變，預計會隨著時間的推移進一步改善。

In addition, while a leading indicator on the downside, permanent placement and creative digital marketing have historically seen an uptick in revenue as macro conditions improve, followed by sustained rallies once the economy exits a recessionary period. In the meantime, given market conditions, we are leveraging our variable cost structure and proactively taking down expenses in certain areas of the business while investing in others.

此外，雖然是下行的領先指標，但從歷史上看，隨著宏觀環境的改善，永久性安置和創意數字營銷的收入有所上升，一旦經濟走出衰退期，收入就會持續上漲。與此同時，鑑於市場條件，我們正在利用我們的可變成本結構，並在投資於其他業務的同時主動削減某些業務領域的開支。

Those actions are protecting our adjusted EBITDA margins today and into the future. Also, our free cash flow benefited from a reduction in accounts receivable DSO by 1.2 days. ASGN's capital allocation strategy has not changed. We still believe that M&A remains the best use of, and highest return on capital.

這些行動正在保護我們今天和未來調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率。此外，我們的自由現金流得益於應收賬款 DSO 減少 1.2 天。 ASGN的資金配置策略沒有改變。我們仍然認為，併購仍然是資本的最佳用途和最高回報。

Having said that, with limited deals in the pipeline at present, we expect to be more active in repurchasing ASGN shares given our view of the rather compelling share price. Our Board of Directors has recently approved a new 2-year $500 million share repurchase authorization. With that as the background, let us discuss our segment performance for the quarter.

話雖如此，鑑於目前正在進行的交易有限，鑑於我們認為股價頗具吸引力，我們預計會更積極地回購 ASGN 股票。我們的董事會最近批准了一項新的 2 年期 5 億美元的股票回購授權。以此為背景，讓我們討論本季度的分部業績。

Our Commercial segment, which predominantly serves large enterprises and Fortune 1000 companies reported first quarter 2023 revenues relatively consistent with the prior year period on a tough double-digit year-over-year comparison. Apex Systems, our largest division, accounted for 85.4% of the Commercial segment revenues.

我們的商業部門主要為大型企業和財富 1000 強公司提供服務，報告稱 2023 年第一季度的收入與去年同期基本一致，同比呈兩位數增長。我們最大的部門 Apex Systems 佔商業部門收入的 85.4%。

Revenues for the division improved 3.1% for the quarter, with top accounts achieving low single-digit growth and retail accounts achieving high single-digit growth year-over-year. Creative digital marketing and permanent placement revenues, which represent 14.6% of Commercial segment revenues declined double digits year-over-year.

該部門本季度收入增長 3.1%，頂級客戶實現低個位數增長，零售客戶實現高個位數增長。創意數字營銷和永久安置收入佔商業部門收入的 14.6%，同比下降兩位數。

Our large enterprise industry-diversified commercial client base provides balance and protection to the down side. As such, even with the pullback in more of our discretionary businesses, we continue to see solid progress in 3 out of our 5 commercial segment industry verticals in the quarter. Financial services and healthcare verticals saw single-digit revenue growth year-over-year, while consumer and industrial vertical revenues improved high single digits compared to the first quarter of 2022. The Technology, Media and Telecom or TMT and business and government services verticals both declined mid-single digits.

我們的大型企業行業多元化商業客戶群為下行提供了平衡和保護。因此，即使我們更多的非必需業務出現回調，我們在本季度的 5 個商業細分行業垂直領域中的 3 個繼續取得穩健進展。與 2022 年第一季度相比，金融服務和醫療保健垂直行業收入同比實現個位數增長，而消費者和工業垂直行業收入實現高個位數增長。技術、媒體和電信或 TMT 以及商業和政府服務垂直行業均下降了中個位數。

In Financial Services growth was driven principally by wealth management. Improvement in our healthcare vertical revenues was largely driven by growth in provider accounts, while consumer and industrial strength was led by growth in energy, utility and consumer staples. In the TMT vertical, telecommunications and technology accounts saw a pullback with delays in work and the impact of layoffs.

在金融服務領域，增長主要由財富管理推動。我們醫療保健垂直收入的改善主要是由供應商賬戶的增長推動的，而消費者和工業實力則是由能源、公用事業和消費必需品的增長帶動的。在 TMT 垂直領域，電信和技術賬戶因工作延誤和裁員的影響而出現回調。

In business and government services, aerospace and defense accounts saw solid growth during the quarter, while we saw a double-digit revenue pullback in business services. Turning to our consulting business. Our consulting offerings remain an important source of the value we provide clients and a core part of our strategic growth strategy.

在商業和政府服務方面，航空航天和國防賬戶在本季度實現了穩健增長，而我們看到商業服務的收入出現兩位數的回落。轉向我們的諮詢業務。我們的諮詢服務仍然是我們為客戶提供的價值的重要來源，也是我們戰略增長戰略的核心部分。

For the first quarter, commercial consulting revenues increased 32.7% year-over-year and were up 20% organically. Bookings were a record for the quarter and totaled approximately $392 million, up 31.7% year-over-year. This translates into a book-to-bill of roughly 1.3:1 on a trailing 12-month basis. With such strong bookings, it is evident that our clients continue to invest in IT consulting projects.

第一季度，商業諮詢收入同比增長 32.7%，有機增長 20%。本季度的預訂量創下歷史新高，總額約為 3.92 億美元，同比增長 31.7%。這相當於過去 12 個月的訂單出貨比約為 1.3:1。憑藉如此強勁的預訂量，很明顯我們的客戶繼續投資於 IT 諮詢項目。

In fact, while we have seen some of our clients deemphasize smaller discretionary projects, they are reprioritizing their focus to other areas such as work aimed at modernizing our systems and improving customer experiences. ASGN has been able to leverage these trends and remain favored by our clients in the consulting space as a result of our long-standing relationship. Our expansive solutions portfolio and our unique delivery model.

事實上，雖然我們已經看到我們的一些客戶不再強調較小的可自由支配的項目，但他們正在將重點重新放在其他領域，例如旨在使我們的系統現代化和改善客戶體驗的工作。由於我們長期的合作關係，ASGN 能夠利用這些趨勢並在諮詢領域繼續受到客戶的青睞。我們廣泛的解決方案組合和我們獨特的交付模式。

So let me provide some examples of our commercial consulting wins for the quarter. In Q1, Apex Systems, in partnership with our GlideFast unit was awarded a new contract to provide development services on the ServiceNow platform to a global automotive company. This same client also tasked our team with digitizing, automating and optimizing its supply chain management processes. This is just one of the 13 new client wins during the first quarter in which Apex brought the client relationship to the table and GlideFast, the ServiceNow capabilities in order to jointly secure the contract.

因此，讓我提供一些本季度商業諮詢勝利的例子。在第一季度，Apex Systems 與我們的 GlideFast 部門合作獲得了一份新合同，為一家全球汽車公司提供 ServiceNow 平台上的開發服務。該客戶還要求我們的團隊對其供應鏈管理流程進行數字化、自動化和優化。這只是第一季度贏得的 13 個新客戶中的一個，Apex 將客戶關係帶到桌面和 GlideFast，ServiceNow 功能以共同確保合同。

Also during the first quarter, we won a contract with a leading U.S. healthcare provider to help them deploy the application that uses artificial intelligence to detect when patients are performing an action that puts the patient at risk of falling and then send an alert to the healthcare provider to review and take the appropriate reaction.

同樣在第一季度，我們贏得了與一家領先的美國醫療保健提供商的合同，幫助他們部署應用程序，該應用程序使用人工智能來檢測患者何時執行會使患者面臨跌倒風險的動作，然後向醫療保健機構發送警報供應商審查並採取適當的反應。

The goal of the project is to increase the number of rooms the application can safely monitor remotely by leveraging AI and an Apex Systems developed application.

該項目的目標是通過利用 AI 和 Apex Systems 開發的應用程序來增加應用程序可以安全遠程監控的房間數量。

Let's now turn to our Federal Government segment, which provides mission-critical solutions to the Department of Defense, the intelligence community and federal civilian agencies.

現在讓我們轉向我們的聯邦政府部門，它為國防部、情報界和聯邦文職機構提供關鍵任務解決方案。

Federal segment revenues for the quarter were up 15% compared to the first quarter of 2022, driven by a combination of organic growth and the impact of our recent Iron Vine acquisition. Contract backlog was over $3 billion at the end of the first quarter or a healthy coverage ratio of 2.6x the segment's trailing 12-month revenues. New contract awards for the quarter were approximately $75.2 million, which translates to a book-to-bill of 0.9:1 on a trailing 12 months basis.

與 2022 年第一季度相比，本季度聯邦部門的收入增長了 15%，這主要受有機增長和我們最近收購 Iron Vine 的影響的共同推動。第一季度末合同積壓超過 30 億美元，覆蓋率是該部門過去 12 個月收入的 2.6 倍。本季度的新合同授予額約為 7520 萬美元，這意味著過去 12 個月的訂單出貨比為 0.9:1。

We are seeing delays in project funding largely due to new multiphase procurement cycles and an increase in award protests. Q1 is also often seasonally low for our Federal Government segment as the government acquisition cycle tends to lag behind the budget cycle. That said, our pipeline of opportunities remains robust and the number of projects submitted awaiting award is as high as it's ever been.

我們看到項目資金的延遲主要是由於新的多階段採購週期和授標抗議的增加。由於政府採購週期往往滯後於預算週期，因此我們的聯邦政府部門的第一季度也經常處於季節性低位。也就是說，我們的機會渠道依然強勁，提交等待獲獎的項目數量與以往一樣高。

So let's turn to some examples of projects won during the first quarter. In the quarter, our team secured a number of re-competes and won new contract awards. In terms of re-compete, ECS again secured the Department of Homeland Security, Web Content Management as a Service Contract in which we are supporting the DHS with enterprise content delivery, DevSecOps and cloud platform enhancements.

那麼讓我們來看看第一季度贏得的項目的一些例子。在本季度，我們的團隊獲得了多項重新競爭並贏得了新合同。在重新競爭方面，ECS 再次獲得國土安全部的 Web 內容管理即服務合同，在該合同中，我們通過企業內容交付、DevSecOps 和雲平台增強功能支持 DHS。

With regards to new awards during the quarter, ECS won a prime contract to support the modernization and agile transformation of the Army's Integrated Pay & Personnel System, which is the Army's #1 IT priority at present.

關於本季度的新獎項，ECS 贏得了一份主要合同，以支持陸軍綜合薪酬和人事系統的現代化和敏捷轉型，這是陸軍目前的頭號 IT 優先事項。

Iron Vine is also making great progress, and ECS has leveraged Iron Vine's cybersecurity capabilities to pursue new opportunities across its entire client base. For example, in the first quarter, ECS won a new contract under Iron Vine to support the Millennium Challenge Corporation with designing, building and installing in-country solutions to track infrastructure investments in Kosovo and Malawi. This momentum has continued, and I'm pleased to report that ECS has already seen several bookings in early Q2.

Iron Vine 也取得了長足進步，ECS 已利用 Iron Vine 的網絡安全功能在其整個客戶群中尋求新機會。例如，在第一季度，ECS 贏得了 Iron Vine 的一份新合同，以支持 Millennium Challenge Corporation 設計、構建和安裝國內解決方案，以跟踪科索沃和馬拉維的基礎設施投資。這種勢頭一直在持續，我很高興地向大家報告，ECS 在第二季度初已經有幾筆預訂。

For example, we recently won a recompete of over $100 million to perform advanced addressing in geospatial technology solutions for our long-standing global mail delivery and shipping customer. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Marie, our CFO, to discuss the first quarter results and our second quarter 2023 guidance.

例如，我們最近贏得了超過 1 億美元的重新競爭，為我們長期的全球郵件投遞和運輸客戶執行地理空間技術解決方案的高級尋址。有了這個，我現在將電話轉給我們的首席財務官瑪麗，討論第一季度業績和我們 2023 年第二季度的指導。

Thanks, Ted. It's great to speak with everyone again today. Revenues for the first quarter were $1.1 billion, up 3.5% year-over-year on an as-reported basis. Excluding $50.4 million from businesses acquired in the past 12 months, revenues were down 1.2% compared to the prior year quarter.

謝謝，泰德。很高興今天再次與大家交談。第一季度的收入為 11 億美元，同比增長 3.5%。不包括過去 12 個月收購的業務的 5040 萬美元，收入比去年同期下降 1.2%。

I'd like to put the first quarter revenue results into perspective. From a seasonality standpoint, revenues in the first quarter of each calendar year tend to be lighter as many clients finalize the funding of their calendar year project budgets. Also, on a consolidated basis, we achieved over 20% year-over-year revenue growth in the first quarter of 2022, creating a tough year-over-year comparison. While we anticipate some softness in our Q1 guidance due to macroeconomic conditions, as Ted noted, we fell below our guidance range, mainly due to further revenue declines towards the end of the quarter and our more discretionary and cyclical assignment work.

我想正確看待第一季度的收入結果。從季節性的角度來看，每個日曆年第一季度的收入往往較少，因為許多客戶最終確定了他們日曆年項目預算的資金來源。此外，在綜合基礎上，我們在 2022 年第一季度實現了超過 20% 的收入同比增長，創造了一個艱難的同比比較。正如 Ted 指出的那樣，雖然我們預計由於宏觀經濟狀況我們的第一季度指導會有所疲軟，但我們低於我們的指導範圍，這主要是由於本季度末收入進一步下降以及我們更多的自由裁量和周期性分配工作。

Revenues from our Commercial segment were $832.1 million, essentially flat year-over-year on an as-reported basis and down 3.2% organically. Revenues from commercial consulting, the largest of our high-margin revenue streams, totaled $271.7 million, up 32.7% year-over-year. Excluding the $25.9 million contribution from GlideFast, consulting services revenue improved 20% year-over-year.

我們商業部門的收入為 8.321 億美元，與報告的基礎上同比基本持平，有機下降 3.2%。商業諮詢的收入是我們高利潤收入流中最大的，總計 2.717 億美元，同比增長 32.7%。不包括 GlideFast 貢獻的 2590 萬美元，諮詢服務收入同比增長 20%。

Revenues from our Federal Government segment were $296.7 million, up 15% year-over-year. Excluding the contribution from Iron Vine of $24.5 million, revenues for the segment increased 5.5%. Moving on to margins. On a consolidated basis, gross margin was 28.9%, down 100 basis points over the first quarter of last year.

我們聯邦政府部門的收入為 2.967 億美元，同比增長 15%。剔除來自 Iron Vine 的 2450 萬美元貢獻，該部門的收入增長了 5.5%。繼續討論利潤率。綜合毛利率為28.9%，較去年一季度下降100個基點。

The compression in gross margin was mainly related to business mix, including a slightly higher mix of revenues from our federal government segment, which carry a lower gross margin than commercial revenues and a lower mix of creative digital marketing and permanent placement revenues, which have higher gross margins.

毛利率的壓縮主要與業務組合有關，包括我們聯邦政府部門的收入組合略高於商業收入，其毛利率低於商業收入，以及創意數字營銷和永久安置收入的組合較低，後者俱有更高的收入毛利率。

Gross margin for the Commercial segment was 31.5%, down 120 basis points year-over-year, primarily due to a smaller contribution from our discretionary and cyclical assignment revenues as noted. By contrast, gross margin for the federal government segment was 21.6%, up 70 basis points year-over-year due to a smaller amount of cost reimbursable contracts and the contribution from Iron Vine.

商業部門的毛利率為 31.5%，同比下降 120 個基點，這主要是由於我們的酌情和周期性任務收入的貢獻較小。相比之下，聯邦政府部門的毛利率為 21.6%，同比增長 70 個基點，原因是成本補償合同數量減少以及 Iron Vine 的貢獻。

SG&A expenses for the first quarter were $224.1 million, up 5.7% year-over-year due to investments in workforce and technology made in 2022. SG&A expenses were favorable to guidance due to the highly variable nature of our cost structure, which benefited from fluctuations in our incentive compensation and from attrition in our business.

由於 2022 年對勞動力和技術的投資，第一季度的 SG&A 費用為 2.241 億美元，同比增長 5.7%。SG&A 費用有利於指導，因為我們的成本結構具有高度可變性，這得益於波動在我們的激勵薪酬和我們業務的流失中。

SG&A expenses also included $2.3 million in acquisition, integration and strategic planning expenses that we do not include in our guidance estimates. As expected, interest expense increased year-over-year related to rising interest rates, which impact only a portion of our debt. As a reminder, over half of our debt is fixed at below market rates.

SG&A 費用還包括 230 萬美元的收購、整合和戰略規劃費用，我們沒有將這些費用包括在我們的指導估計中。正如預期的那樣，與利率上升相關的利息支出同比增加，這只影響了我們的一部分債務。提醒一下，我們一半以上的債務固定在低於市場利率的水平。

Amortization of intangible assets was higher due to recent acquisitions. Income from continuing operations was $49.5 million. Adjusted EBITDA was $123.5 million, and adjusted EBITDA margin was 10.9%. Our 2 highest margin contributors, permanent placement and creative digital marketing revenues pressure our adjusted EBITDA margin compared to what we had originally guided for the quarter.

由於最近的收購，無形資產的攤銷較高。來自持續經營的收入為 4950 萬美元。調整後的 EBITDA 為 1.235 億美元，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 10.9%。與我們最初為本季度提供的指導相比，我們的 2 個最高利潤貢獻者、永久安置和創意數字營銷收入給我們調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率帶來了壓力。

At the end of the quarter, cash and cash equivalents were $65 million, and we had full availability under our $460 million senior secured revolver. Free cash flow for the quarter totaled $68.8 million, an improvement of 48.3% over the first quarter of 2022.

在本季度末，現金和現金等價物為 6500 萬美元，我們在 4.6 億美元的高級擔保左輪手槍下完全可用。本季度自由現金流總計 6880 萬美元，比 2022 年第一季度增長 48.3%。

As Ted mentioned, cash flows benefited from a reduction in accounts receivable, thereby improving DSO by 1.2 days. With strong free cash flow generation and full availability under the revolver, we have ample dry powder to make strategic acquisitions. Given the limited acquisition opportunities at present, and our stock trading at such attractive levels, we deployed $48.8 million in cash on the repurchase of 563,200 shares of the company's common stock during the first quarter.

正如 Ted 所提到的，現金流受益於應收賬款的減少，從而將 DSO 提高了 1.2 天。憑藉強大的自由現金流產生和左輪手槍下的充分可用性，我們有充足的干火藥進行戰略收購。鑑於目前的收購機會有限，而且我們的股票交易價格如此具有吸引力，我們在第一季度部署了 4880 萬美元的現金來回購公司 563,200 股普通股。

This week, our Board of Directors approved a new 2-year $500 million share repurchase plan replacing the prior authorization.

本週，我們的董事會批准了一項新的 2 年期 5 億美元的股票回購計劃，以取代之前的授權。

Turning to our guidance. Our financial estimates for the second quarter of 2023 are set forth in our earnings release and supplemental materials. These estimates are based on trends in March and April, assumes 63.25 Billable Days in the second quarter, which is essentially the same as the year-ago period and sequentially and include the estimated revenue contribution of $52.8 million from acquisitions made in the last 12 months.

轉向我們的指導。我們對 2023 年第二季度的財務估計載於我們的收益發布和補充材料中。這些估計基於 3 月和 4 月的趨勢，假設第二季度有 63.25 個可計費天數，這與去年同期基本持平，並且包括過去 12 個月收購產生的 5280 萬美元的估計收入貢獻.

We are providing wider ranges this quarter than in prior quarters to account for uncertain macro conditions at present. With that in mind, we expect macro conditions in the second quarter to be similar to that of the first with continued softness in assignment revenues. Given the seasonality of our business in Q1 being the lowest from a revenue standpoint, revenue should increase sequentially. We expect second quarter revenues to be driven by commercial consulting and federal revenue growth, offset by continued softness in IT staffing, consistent with our peer set and to a lower extent, decline in permanent placement and creative digital marketing.

我們本季度提供的區間比前幾個季度更寬，以應對目前不確定的宏觀環境。考慮到這一點，我們預計第二季度的宏觀狀況將與第一季度相似，任務收入持續疲軟。鑑於我們第一季度業務的季節性從收入的角度來看是最低的，收入應該會依次增加。我們預計第二季度的收入將受到商業諮詢和聯邦收入增長的推動，但被 IT 人員配置持續疲軟所抵消，與我們的同行一致，並且在較小程度上，永久安置和創意數字營銷的下降。

We also faced another difficult year-over-year comparison that had over 17% growth in the second quarter of 2022. In our guidance numbers, we have assumed leverage from our variable cost structure and certain cost containment efforts as well as lapping of the payroll tax reset in Q1. These assumptions limit the downward pressure on margins without hampering our long-term growth drivers.

我們還面臨著另一個困難的同比比較，該比較在 2022 年第二季度增長了 17% 以上。在我們的指導數字中，我們假設了可變成本結構和某些成本控制措施以及工資單重疊的槓桿作用第一季度的稅收重置。這些假設限制了利潤率的下行壓力，而不會妨礙我們的長期增長動力。

With that background, for the second quarter, we are estimating revenues at $1.110 billion to $1.145 billion on roughly the same number of Billable Days and against a difficult year-over-year comparable. This translates to a year-over-year growth rate of minus 2.8% to plus 0.3% compared to the prior year quarter's results.

在這種背景下，我們估計第二季度的收入在大致相同的計費天數和困難的同比可比情況下為 11.10 億美元至 11.45 億美元。這意味著與去年同期的結果相比，同比增長率為負 2.8% 至正 0.3%。

We are estimating net income of $52.8 million to $60 million and adjusted EBITDA of $125 million to $135 million. We are expecting gross margin will decline year-over-year, primarily due to business mix, similar to the more recent trends, including a greater mix of federal government work and the continued softness in assignment work.

我們估計淨收入為 5280 萬美元至 6000 萬美元，調整後的 EBITDA 為 1.25 億美元至 1.35 億美元。我們預計毛利率將同比下降，這主要是由於業務組合，類似於最近的趨勢，包括聯邦政府工作的更多組合和外派工作的持續疲軟。

Adjusted EBITDA margins are also anticipated to decline year-over-year, but should benefit from our variable cost structure commensurate with revenue. Along with other cost control measures, such as headcount attrition and limitations in discretionary spending. Thank you. Now I'll turn the call over to Ted for some closing remarks.

調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率預計也將同比下降，但應受益於我們與收入相稱的可變成本結構。連同其他成本控制措施，例如裁員和限制可自由支配的支出。謝謝。現在我將把電話轉給 Ted，聽取一些結束語。

Thanks, Marie. Like our peers, the difficult macroeconomic conditions are impacting our performance in the more discretionary, cyclical areas of our business. These conditions are outside of our control. What is in our control is our ability to execute and strategically position our business to succeed throughout economic cycles. In the first quarter, we did just that.

謝謝，瑪麗。與我們的同行一樣，困難的宏觀經濟條件正在影響我們在業務的自由裁量和周期性領域的表現。這些情況不在我們的控制範圍內。我們可以控制的是我們執行和戰略定位我們的業務以在整個經濟周期取得成功的能力。在第一季度，我們就是這樣做的。

We continue to evolve our business towards a more consultative model. While clients are scrutinizing spend, they're continuing to invest in IT projects that are critical for their businesses. With over 50% of our revenues in higher end, higher value IT consulting work, we are shaping and evolving our operations for success in both the short- and the long-term.

我們繼續將我們的業務發展為更具諮詢性的模式。在客戶審視支出的同時，他們還在繼續投資對其業務至關重要的 IT 項目。我們超過 50% 的收入來自更高端、更高價值的 IT 諮詢工作，我們正在塑造和發展我們的運營，以在短期和長期取得成功。

Importantly, we have a number of key business stabilizers in place to support our business on the downside. And we remain committed to providing leading IT services and solutions to the commercial and government end markets we serve. Thank you all for joining our first quarter call. We will now open it up to your questions. Operator?

重要的是，我們有一些關鍵的業務穩定器來支持我們的業務下行。我們仍然致力於為我們服務的商業和政府終端市場提供領先的 IT 服務和解決方案。感謝大家參加我們的第一季度電話會議。我們現在將開放它來回答您的問題。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Our next question is from Maggie Nolan with William Blair.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 Maggie Nolan 和 William Blair。

Really interesting to see you guys cross that 50% of revenue mark on the IT consulting work. So congratulations on that. My first question is around kind of client sentiment. I know you've mentioned that your clients tend to kind of finalize their budgets in the first quarter. What kind of feedback are you getting from clients as they finalize that process as it relates to kind of the full year spend projections?

看到你們在 IT 諮詢工作中超過 50% 的收入大關真的很有趣。祝賀你。我的第一個問題是關於客戶情緒的。我知道您提到過您的客戶傾向於在第一季度完成預算。當客戶完成與全年支出預測相關的流程時，您從客戶那裡得到了什麼樣的反饋？

Yes. Maggie, I'll start, and I'll let Rand kind of hop in with me here on this one. But I think, look, clients are posturing overall as cautious. The staffing programs and the staffing part of the business, they can put their finger on their first and moderate spend and get protective, if you will, based on future uncertainty. At the same time, you can see, just based on the data points in our consulting business, that they continue to stay invested in projects that are going on in IT that are key strategic business drivers.

是的。瑪吉，我會開始，我會讓蘭德在這件事上和我一起跳進去。但我認為，看，客戶總體上表現得很謹慎。人員配置計劃和業務的人員配置部分，他們可以根據未來的不確定性，將手指放在他們的第一筆和適度支出上，如果你願意的話，可以得到保護。同時，您可以看到，僅根據我們諮詢業務的數據點，他們繼續投資於 IT 中正在進行的項目，這些項目是關鍵的戰略業務驅動因素。

And not only do the continuous projects that are going on, but they're also adding to that with new work. So I think the clients are just being -- they're very wary. They're saving money in places of the business where they can, and they're also continuing to invest in areas of the business that are critical for IT.

不僅正在進行的持續項目，而且他們還通過新工作增加了這些項目。所以我認為客戶只是 - 他們非常謹慎。他們在力所能及的地方節省資金，並且還在繼續投資於對 IT 至關重要的業務領域。

Now underneath that, there's some industry-by-industry story, which we can get into. But I think overall, at a high level, there's a certain cautiousness for sure within the client base. Rand, would you add anything to that?

現在，在這之下，有一些我們可以深入了解的行業故事。但我認為總體而言，在較高的層面上，客戶群中肯定存在一定的謹慎態度。蘭德，你會補充什麼嗎？

No, I think you hit everything. Maggie, obviously, we're watching the bookings numbers, rep consulting numbers. We're watching what's going on in their staffing programs, which Ted said, are easier to put their finger on and pull back on, if you will. But in the consulting world, we're very pleased with, I think, the progress we've made and the clients still thinking forward.

不，我想你什麼都打了。瑪吉，顯然，我們正在關注預訂數量、代表諮詢數量。我們正在觀察他們的人員配置計劃中發生了什麼，特德說，如果你願意的話，他們更容易指責和撤回。但在諮詢界，我認為我們對我們取得的進步和客戶仍在思考未來感到非常滿意。

And Ted is absolutely right. Some industries are obviously being more aggressive than others on their IT spend. But cautiousness is probably an operative word here.

泰德是絕對正確的。一些行業在 IT 支出方面顯然比其他行業更激進。但謹慎在這裡可能是一個有效的詞。

Got it. And then I think it was Marie talking about evaluating some of your expenses and balancing that with your investment areas, given the market conditions. What are some of those key areas where you think you can cut back versus where will you continue to invest for future growth?

知道了。然後我認為是 Marie 在談論根據市場條件評估您的一些費用並將其與您的投資領域進行平衡。您認為可以削減哪些關鍵領域以及您將繼續投資哪些領域以實現未來增長？

Maggie, some of those areas really is the discretionary component of some of our spend. And so items like travel, making sure we are tight on that. We also have attrition just built into our model. And so we see that coming to play as well.

Maggie，其中一些領域確實是我們某些支出的可自由支配部分。所以像旅行這樣的項目，確保我們在這方面很緊張。我們的模型中也內置了損耗。因此，我們也看到了這一點。

And so we believe that in addition to the combination of the attrition that's happening and then the rightsizing with the variable cost structure that we have along with the control over some of those discretionary spend, are those 3 categories.

因此，我們認為，除了正在發生的人員流失，然後是我們擁有的可變成本結構的調整以及對其中一些可自由支配支出的控制之外，還有這 3 個類別。

If you think -- Maggie, if you think, about our business in 3 buckets, if you will, obviously, in the staffing piece, which encompasses creative digital, IT and permanent placement. That's where we're seeing most of our natural attrition in commercial consulting. There's a good and productive marketplace. And so we're investing -- being invested there and attacking that and you can tell from our wins there that that's working.

如果你認為——Maggie，如果你認為，我們的業務分為 3 個部分，如果你願意的話，顯然是在人員配置方面，其中包括創意數字、IT 和永久安置。這就是我們在商業諮詢中看到大部分自然流失的地方。有一個良好且富有成效的市場。所以我們正在投資 - 在那裡投資並攻擊它，你可以從我們在那裡的勝利中看出這是有效的。

And then on the federal side, also, it's a productive area right now. We're growing. We're staying invested around that. And so I think at a high level, Marie kind of captured all the areas and just inside the segments of our business, those are the plus and minuses.

然後在聯邦方面，它現在也是一個富有成效的領域。我們在成長。我們將繼續圍繞這一點進行投資。因此，我認為在高層次上，Marie 涵蓋了所有領域，並且只是在我們業務的各個領域內，這些都是優點和缺點。

Maggie, can I just add real quick because if you remember in the last quarter, we talked about banks being a good spender in the first quarter around IT proved out not to be quite so much, but the amount of activity is picking up because of compliance and other information needs in that sector, both regional and big banks. So we're hopeful that we'll see maybe a resurgence, and therefore, we're deploying to that.

Maggie，我能不能快速補充一下，因為如果你還記得上個季度，我們談到銀行在第一季度是一個很好的支出者，圍繞 IT 證明不是那麼多，但活動量正在增加，因為該部門的合規和其他信息需求，包括區域銀行和大型銀行。因此，我們希望我們會看到復蘇，因此，我們正在為此進行部署。

Our next question is from Tobey Sommer with Truist Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自 Truist Securities 的 Tobey Sommer。

On the commercial consulting area, what is the sales cycle look like? And how has it evolved year-to-date? You obviously had a good bookings quarter, but I'm wondering if you've seen -- perceived any changes over the course of the first 4 months of the year?

在商業諮詢領域，銷售週期是什麼樣的？年初至今它是如何演變的？你顯然有一個很好的預訂季度，但我想知道你是否看到 - 察覺到今年前 4 個月的任何變化？

Rand, do you want to take that?

蘭德，你想接受嗎？

Yes, Tobey, I wouldn't really say there's much changes. I mean, most Fortune 1000 companies like ourselves -- they have an IT path, modernization path, introduction of some technologies or things that can improve productivity of the workforce and/or the customer experience. And that path hasn't changed. I think there -- so the discussions we have with the clients are still around those past and what projects can we take on to help them get there and be efficient, give them quality at the right price point, if you will. So now we are back, our pipeline is also growing.

是的，托比，我真的不會說有太大的變化。我的意思是，大多數像我們這樣的財富 1000 強公司——他們擁有 IT 路徑、現代化路徑、引入一些技術或可以提高員工生產力和/或客戶體驗的東西。這條路沒有改變。我認為那裡 - 所以我們與客戶的討論仍然圍繞著過去以及我們可以採取哪些項目來幫助他們實現目標並提高效率，如果你願意的話，以合適的價格為他們提供質量。所以現在我們回來了，我們的管道也在增長。

And so Again, there are some industries, no question, Tobey. And I think Ted pointed this out already where we alluded to this, that they're definitely a little bit more cautious than they just want to be slow -- a little slower. So the sales process may elongate by some weeks or they may get something started but not go full bore right away.

因此，毫無疑問，有一些行業，托比。我認為 Ted 已經在我們提到這一點的地方指出了這一點，他們肯定比他們只想放慢速度更謹慎——稍微慢一點。因此，銷售過程可能會延長數週，或者他們可能會開始一些事情，但不會立即全力以赴。

But for the most part, we've seen pretty good success and pretty good discussions across the board. There are some areas like I just mentioned to Maggie, and the financial services end, there's new discussions now because there's new compliance requirements, new things to monitor, new things that they have to get their arms around along with their cloud migrations and the other things that are ongoing.

但在大多數情況下，我們已經看到了相當大的成功和全面的討論。有一些領域，就像我剛剛向 Maggie 提到的，金融服務結束，現在有新的討論，因為有新的合規性要求，需要監控的新事物，他們必須在雲遷移和其他方面得到支持的新事物正在進行的事情。

And from a staffing perspective, where would you say the bill rate growth is now? And how does that compare to either folks you have out on assignment or another volumetric weekly hours, whichever one you want to choose?

從人員配置的角度來看，您認為現在的賬單利率增長在哪裡？這與你有外出任務的人或另一個體積龐大的每週時間相比如何，無論你想選擇哪個？

Yes. Well, I would say bill rate growth is naturally happening in the business as we have a higher mix of consultative-type engagement, right? We're just -- it's a higher value proposition to the customer. We're getting better rates, higher rates, and we're also getting higher growth in EBITDA margins. So naturally across the business, we continue to see the bill rate go up. That's probably the #1 factor. The #2 factor underneath that is pay-to-bill spreads are remaining pretty steady. We're not seeing any degradation of that. And I think that speaks to kind of the continued tightness in the labor pool around mission-critical IT set -- skill set and that they're still in demand. So those are 2 data points around that.

是的。好吧，我想說業務中自然會發生票據費率增長，因為我們有更多的諮詢類型參與，對吧？我們只是 - 這是對客戶的更高價值主張。我們獲得了更好的利率，更高的利率，我們的 EBITDA 利潤率也得到了更高的增長。因此，在整個業務中，我們自然會繼續看到賬單利率上升。這可能是第一大因素。第二個因素是支付賬單價差保持相當穩定。我們沒有看到任何退化。而且我認為這說明圍繞任務關鍵型 IT 集的勞動力資源持續緊張——技能集，而且他們仍然有需求。所以這些是圍繞它的 2 個數據點。

So I guess based on that kind of commentary, is it fair to assume that bill rate growth still exists in the staffing business and it is just being sort of overwhelmed by volume declines?

所以我想基於這種評論，假設人事業務中仍然存在票據費率增長並且它只是被數量下降所淹沒是否公平？

It's -- so bill rate growth is still there for sure. It's not as steep as it was, wage inflation, not as steep as it was. So those are going up but at a lesser level than what we saw in the past. And certainly, we're having volume declines in the staffing part of the business.

它是 - 所以票據利率增長肯定仍然存在。工資通脹不像以前那麼陡峭，不像以前那麼陡峭。所以這些都在上升，但水平低於我們過去看到的水平。當然，我們業務的人員配置部分的數量正在下降。

Okay. And could you give us a sense for where perm is now and compare and contrast where it is in the range historically, and maybe also describe the margins in creative digital? I know they come down, but contextualize that too, if you could?

好的。您能否讓我們了解一下燙髮現在的位置，並比較和對比它在歷史範圍內的位置，也許還可以描述一下創意數字的利潤率？我知道他們下來了，但如果可以的話，也要將其背景化嗎？

Sure. Well, permanent placement is around 3% right now. At its high, it was close to 5% I would say 3.5% to 4% is kind of a normal level for us, if you will.

當然。好吧，永久安置現在大約是 3%。在它的最高點，它接近 5% 我想說 3.5% 到 4% 對我們來說是一種正常水平，如果你願意的話。

And Creative Circle EBITDA margins are higher than our overall company margins, they range kind of from the mid- to high-teens in that business and have been pretty consistent and well-managed by Matt Riley, at Creative Circle over a number of years.

Creative Circle 的 EBITDA 利潤率高於我們公司的整體利潤率，它們在該業務中處於中高水平，多年來一直由 Creative Circle 的 Matt Riley 保持相當穩定和良好的管理。

Our next question comes from Heather Balsky with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Heather Balsky。

I guess, first off, can you dig in a little bit more to the slowdown that you saw towards the end of the quarter in terms of kind of the level of deceleration, what areas of your staffing business were most impacted?

我想，首先，你能不能更深入地了解你在本季度末看到的減速程度，你的人力資源業務的哪些領域受到的影響最大？

And when you think about the guide for the second quarter, are you assuming kind of a steady state from what you saw in March and April? Or are you kind of factoring in further deceleration?

當你考慮第二季度的指南時，你是否假設你在 3 月和 4 月看到的情況處於穩定狀態？還是您正在考慮進一步減速？

So maybe a couple of things here. I think coming across the new year, if you think about coming from the end of December into January, we would typically see a slight notch down. And that's just natural end of projects and new projects are starting, and I think Marie mentioned in her commentary, that's a pretty normal thing in the business, and we saw that in this year.

所以也許這裡有幾件事。我認為在新的一年裡，如果你考慮從 12 月底到 1 月，我們通常會看到略有下降。這只是項目的自然結束和新項目的開始，我認為瑪麗在她的評論中提到，這在業務中是很正常的事情，我們在今年看到了這一點。

What was unique is about 2/3 of the way into the quarter, certainly into February instead of seeing us begin to track back up, we took another notch down. and that was unexpected. And I'd say that's really the difference. Now what we've seen in the last, what I'll say, 4 to 6 weeks is a pretty good steadiness. So you're still down a little bit in the staffing part of the business and obviously, you're up on the consulting side of the business. And so they pretty much have kind of continued that offsetting trend here for the last 4 to 6 weeks.

獨特之處在於進入本季度的大約 2/3，當然是進入 2 月，而不是看到我們開始回溯，我們又下降了一個檔次。這是出乎意料的。我會說這真的是不同之處。現在我們在過去看到的，我要說的是，4 到 6 周是一個很好的穩定性。所以你在業務的人員配置方面仍然有點落後，顯然，你在業務的諮詢方面有所提升。因此，在過去的 4 到 6 周里，他們幾乎在某種程度上延續了這種抵消趨勢。

So that's the first quarter. If you think about the second quarter, I think Marie's comments were that the guidance that we gave really predicated a similar trend to what we've seen in March and April. And that's the flatishness that I mentioned a few seconds ago.

所以這是第一季度。如果你想想第二季度，我認為瑪麗的評論是我們給出的指導確實預測了與我們在 3 月和 4 月看到的趨勢類似的趨勢。這就是我幾秒鐘前提到的單調乏味。

And so that's really where the guidance is predicated. We've built some conservatism in that for the staffing to potentially get a little bit weaker. And you can see that both in the bands that we gave on the revenue and the EBITDA side, especially to the downside. So given what we'll get, we'll have to watch and see, but that's what we see here just 3 weeks into the quarter.

因此，這確實是指導的前提。我們已經建立了一些保守主義，因為人員配置可能會變得更弱一些。你可以在我們給出的收入和 EBITDA 方面的頻段中看到這一點，尤其是在下行方面。因此，考慮到我們將得到的結果，我們將不得不拭目以待，但這就是我們在本季度僅 3 週後就看到的情況。

That's helpful. And then switching gears. We've gotten some questions just with AI being in the news and very topical. And just curious your thoughts on kind of how the rise of AI right now potentially helps or could hurt your business. I think here we've heard through a bull case, there's opportunities for AI-type roles. And then on the flip side, is there risk that the number of tech jobs out there shrink? Just curious to get your thoughts.

這很有幫助。然後切換齒輪。我們收到了一些關於 AI 出現在新聞中並且非常熱門的問題。只是好奇你對人工智能的興起如何可能幫助或可能損害你的業務的想法。我想我們已經通過一個牛市案例聽到了人工智能類型角色的機會。另一方面，是否存在科技工作崗位數量減少的風險？只是想知道你的想法。

Yes. So I'll start and then let Rand had something to say here. I'll turn it over to him. But I think this is a new business driver, if you will. I mean so often, things come along that kind of push the next wave of digitization, automation and IT work forward, and this is certainly going to be one of this. It's too early to really get your arms all the way around what the opportunity is, but there's no question that this is one of the inside of our business, I see it as a productivity driver.

是的。所以我會開始，然後讓蘭德在這裡有話要說。我會轉交給他。但我認為這是一個新的業務驅動力，如果你願意的話。我的意思是，事情的發生往往會推動下一波數字化、自動化和 IT 工作向前發展，而這肯定會成為其中之一。現在真正抓住機會還為時過早，但毫無疑問，這是我們業務的內部之一，我將其視為生產力驅動因素。

A lot of the things that we do for clients in terms of helping them solve problems either on the talent side or providing a certain solution is going to remain there. But in terms of how we operate and execute our business, early on, you can already see that there are going to be opportunities for AI to make a real difference in us continuing to increase the productivity and the way we serve our clients. Rand, what else would you add to that?

我們在幫助客戶解決人才方面的問題或提供特定解決方案方面為客戶所做的很多事情都將保留在那裡。但就我們如何運營和執行業務而言，在早期，你已經可以看到人工智能將有機會真正改變我們，繼續提高生產力和我們為客戶提供服務的方式。蘭德，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

Well, listen, everything Ted said was great. We obviously see AI as a key driver of IT spend going forward, along with machine learning. But let's remember -- and by the way, we featured some of that in this earnings call with our healthcare client, and we have in the past, featured it with some of the work we're doing with the Department of Defense and the federal side.

好吧，聽著，泰德說的一切都很棒。我們顯然將人工智能與機器學習一起視為未來 IT 支出的主要驅動力。但讓我們記住——順便說一句，我們在與我們的醫療保健客戶的這次財報電話會議上介紹了其中的一些內容，我們過去曾將其與我們與國防部和聯邦部門所做的一些工作進行了介紹邊。

But let's remember that what you need is a good data structure. You need a good cloud and data structure in order to do AI. And so what you see from some of the other big tech giants is cloud work is still moving forward, because that's -- you've got to harness data. You've got to be able to simulate, you've got to be able to track it and the trends in data, which is both a cloud and a data analysis set of things to do.

但是請記住，您需要的是良好的數據結構。你需要一個好的雲和數據結構來做人工智能。所以你從其他一些大型科技巨頭那裡看到的是雲工作仍在向前發展，因為那是——你必須利用數據。你必須能夠模擬，你必須能夠跟踪它和數據中的趨勢，這既是雲計算又是數據分析要做的事情。

So there's a lot of groundwork to be doing to make AI really work, not to mention just the technology of AI and machine learning. So I think that's why you see a lot of it still growing in those areas.

因此，要讓 AI 真正發揮作用，還有很多基礎工作要做，更不用說 AI 和機器學習技術了。所以我認為這就是為什麼你會看到這些領域的很多人仍在增長。

Our next question comes from Jeff Silber with BMO Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自 BMO Capital Markets 的 Jeff Silber。

Ryan on for Jeff. Just a quick question. We've seen some headlines surrounding declines in IT spend. I was just wondering how those factors impact your business? And are those impacting the digital transformation initiatives that you've spoken about previously?

瑞安代替傑夫。只是一個簡單的問題。我們已經看到一些關於 IT 支出下降的頭條新聞。我只是想知道這些因素如何影響您的業務？那些會影響您之前談到的數字化轉型計劃嗎？

Rand, do you want to take that?

蘭德，你想接受嗎？

Let me start. First of all, Jeff, I would say there's a decline in IT staffing expenditures for sure. okay? And that's because, as Ted pointed out earlier, clients, Fortune 1000 clients, specifically can put their finger on it and leverage it or stop it or start it in hours, not even in days, okay? In consulting, we have not seen a slowdown in consulting spend and the projects that make that up.

讓我開始吧。首先，Jeff，我想說 IT 人員支出肯定會下降。好的？這是因為，正如泰德之前指出的那樣，客戶，財富 1000 強客戶，特別是可以將他們的手指放在上面並利用它，或者在幾小時內停止或啟動它，甚至不是幾天，好嗎？在諮詢方面，我們沒有看到諮詢支出和構成諮詢支出的項目放緩。

So I guess I would clarify that. And perm placement is also in that IT staffing piece. Why would you hire somebody on your corporate staff at this point in time in the economic cycle. But that will eventually come back as you said. Jeff, the second part of your question was not just whether they're spending, but go ahead, the second part was what?

所以我想我會澄清這一點。燙髮安置也在該 IT 人員配置中。在經濟周期的這個時間點，您為什麼要雇用公司員工。但這最終會像你說的那樣回來。傑夫，你問題的第二部分不僅僅是他們是否在消費，而是繼續，第二部分是什麼？

It was just on the digital, how that relates to digital transportation.

它只是關於數字，它與數字交通有何關係。

Yes. I think digital transformation, look, AI and machine learning is on everybody's mind in the press. But the cloud work and the data analysis I just mentioned is what I call infrastructure and building for that. The digital transformation is embedded and still a big part of what we're doing for clients. We just recently signed a new piece of work with a telecommunications company, media company. using ServiceNow technology.

是的。我認為媒體中每個人都在關注數字化轉型、外觀、人工智能和機器學習。但我剛才提到的雲工作和數據分析就是我所說的基礎設施和建設。數字化轉型是嵌入式的，並且仍然是我們為客戶所做工作的重要組成部分。我們最近剛剛與一家電信公司、媒體公司簽訂了一項新的工作。使用 ServiceNow 技術。

Our GlideFast business is growing. I think Ted mentioned that earlier and their backlog and bookings are growing. So there's still a lot of interest in some of the digital transformation initiatives our clients are involved with. I think it goes to the comment Ted made earlier. Those are things that have already started. They may -- if you will, go a little slower at some of them for a small period, but they're still going.

我們的 GlideFast 業務正在增長。我想 Ted 之前提到過，他們的積壓和預訂正在增加。因此，我們的客戶參與的一些數字化轉型計劃仍然很有趣。我認為這與 Ted 之前發表的評論有關。這些都是已經開始的事情。他們可能——如果你願意的話，在一小段時間裡，他們中的一些人會放慢一點，但他們仍在繼續。

Ryan, one more thing I would add to that. I think our clients view their IT initiatives as strategic just like we do, right? And so as we look at the things that we're doing in the business, we can't really take our foot off the gas. I mean all these are about reaching our customers, being more productive, having better data and analysis, be it in the cloud, having better security. And so while we may let some discretionary spend fall in certain areas inside of our own business, whether it's marketing or travel or some levels of headcount or what have you, what we're going to do are best to stick with our investments in all the IT projects that are helping us move down the pathway in our digital road map. .

Ryan，我還要補充一件事。我認為我們的客戶和我們一樣將他們的 IT 計劃視為戰略，對吧？因此，當我們審視我們在業務中所做的事情時，我們真的不能鬆懈。我的意思是所有這些都是為了接觸我們的客戶，提高生產力，擁有更好的數據和分析，無論是在雲端，還是擁有更好的安全性。因此，儘管我們可能會讓一些可自由支配的支出落在我們自己業務的某些領域，無論是營銷還是旅遊，還是某些級別的員工人數，或者你有什麼，我們要做的最好是堅持我們在所有方面的投資幫助我們沿著數字路線圖前進的 IT 項目。 .

And I feel like our clients look interesting, well, in fact, I know they do because when we talk to them, that's most of what we get. Yes, they're being cautious to Rand's point. But I think IT spend now is so much a strategic initiative than it used to be a cost center, right? And so there's just a little bit different view of this.

而且我覺得我們的客戶看起來很有趣，嗯，事實上，我知道他們確實很有趣，因為當我們與他們交談時，這就是我們得到的大部分內容。是的，他們對蘭德的觀點持謹慎態度。但我認為現在的 IT 支出與其說是成本中心，不如說是一項戰略舉措，對吧？所以對此有一點不同的看法。

And yes, some of the spending will ebb and flow. None of us need laptops. We bought so many over the last couple 3 years. We don't need more laptops, but we do need to keep moving on all these things that are initiatives to get the right applications in our business to get them into the cloud to keep them secure and make them productive for us to reach our customers and serve them our services. So anyway, that's kind of how we see it.

是的，一些支出會潮起潮落。我們都不需要筆記本電腦。在過去的三年裡，我們買了很多。我們不需要更多的筆記本電腦，但我們確實需要繼續推進所有這些舉措，以便在我們的業務中獲得正確的應用程序，將它們放入雲中，以確保它們的安全並提高它們的工作效率，以便我們接觸到我們的客戶並為他們提供我們的服務。所以無論如何，這就是我們的看法。

And then just a follow-up. If there were to be some weakness in some of the top of the pyramid areas, so this architecture, implementation consulting work, if you see those, when you see trends coincidentally in your consulting business, some of the systems deployments or service centers? Or is there maybe some lag between those 2 areas of the consulting market?

然後只是跟進。如果金字塔頂端的某些區域存在一些弱點，那麼這種體系結構、實施諮詢工作，如果您看到這些，當您在諮詢業務中巧合地看到趨勢時，一些系統部署或服務中心？或者諮詢市場的這兩個領域之間可能存在一些滯後？

Well, Rand, certainly, management consulting is an area that's maybe softer. This went on longer with IT spend around our design and architecture be prior debated likely, but the execution of the work, which is where we play for the best part, should still be pretty strong.

嗯，蘭德，當然，管理諮詢是一個可能更軟的領域。隨著 IT 圍繞我們的設計和架構的支出可能會在之前進行辯論，這種情況會持續更長時間，但工作的執行，這是我們發揮最大作用的地方，應該仍然非常強大。

Our next question comes from Surinder Thind with Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Surinder Thind。

Ted, just to follow up on the earlier color about kind of the transition that's occurring in 1Q to 2Q in terms of the weakness that we saw in the staffing business. Can you talk about it in terms of -- was this company kind of pulling back on staffing in the sense that they're delaying projects and they are having people come off of those projects? Or is it that projects are tending to be pushed, where in the pipeline, maybe there was positions that were open and that you had anticipated filling, but at that point, they've removed those positions.

特德，就我們在人員配備業務中看到的弱點而言，只是跟進早期關於第一季度到第二季度發生的過渡的顏色。你能從這方面來談談嗎——這家公司是否在某種程度上減少了人員配置，因為他們正在推遲項目，並且他們正在讓人們離開這些項目？或者是項目傾向於被推動，在管道中，也許有職位空缺並且你預計會填補，但在那個時候，他們已經刪除了這些職位。

How should we think about that mix at this point? And ultimately, what the longer-term risk here is over the next 6 to 12 months in terms of what kind of a pullback in terms of trying to kind of put ends on what -- the way the clients think about this.

在這一點上，我們應該如何考慮這種組合？最終，在接下來的 6 到 12 個月內，這裡的長期風險是什麼，在試圖結束什麼方面會有什麼樣的回調——客戶對此的看法。

Rand, do you want to take that?

蘭德，你想接受嗎？

Well, Ted, let me start and then you can jump in. Surinder, the first thing I would say to you, though, is, when you're on the staffing side, you don't always know what the project is. It's an electronic world where they have requisitions, they published the requisitions through BMSes and you respond to them.

好吧，Ted，讓我開始，然後你就可以開始了。Surinder，不過，我要對你說的第一件事是，當你在人員配置方面時，你並不總是知道項目是什麼。這是一個電子世界，他們有申請，他們通過 BMS 發布申請，然後您回复他們。

Do our account managers have a sense of where they're deploying these people. The answer is we have a sense, but it's not a project, you're not hiring people for projects, you're hiring people. Where the company puts them is, to some extent, through the electronic media means a little invisible to us. Now having said that, I think it's just a question of when they're rotating people or that they just are taking a pause in when they start a new person back up. And I think they do that because it's a cost control measure. That's why companies have staffing programs that they -- and with the full visibility from the top down in the organization, remember, 15 years ago, they didn't -- 20 years ago, they didn't really have all these programs.

我們的客戶經理是否了解他們將這些人員部署到哪裡？答案是我們有感覺，但這不是一個項目，你不是在為項目僱人，而是在僱人。公司把它們放在哪裡，在某種程度上，通過電子媒體意味著我們有點看不見。話雖如此，我認為這只是他們何時輪換人員的問題，或者他們只是在開始新人備份時暫停一下。我認為他們這樣做是因為這是一項成本控制措施。這就是為什麼公司有他們的人員配置計劃 - 並且在組織中自上而下的完整可見性，請記住，15 年前，他們沒有 - 20 年前，他們並沒有真正擁有所有這些計劃。

There was a lot of independent one-off hiring people. They've really put great programs in place. They've made it electronic, which all of us have responded to, and we benefited from in the sense of transactional flow. But having said that, I think what they see is they know that this is a way that they can control costs, at least in the short-term. not a long-term answer. It's a short-term answer just to bridge the gap until they decide to continue to move forward. But you can't run your service centers, for example, which is where some of that staffing goes. Unless you up the productivity of that team or you just limp along for a while because there's a general lower level of action going on in that service center.

有很多獨立的一次性招聘人員。他們確實實施了很棒的計劃。他們把它變成了電子產品，我們所有人都對此做出了回應，我們從交易流的意義上受益。但話雖如此，我認為他們看到的是他們知道這是他們可以控製成本的一種方式，至少在短期內是這樣。不是一個長期的答案。這是一個短期的答案，只是為了彌合差距，直到他們決定繼續前進。但是，例如，您不能運營服務中心，而這正是部分人員的去處。除非你提高了那個團隊的生產力，或者你只是一瘸一拐地走了一段時間，因為那個服務中心的行動水平普遍較低。

I'm using that as an example. If it's project oriented, it's more coming through the consulting program and I think our backlog and consulting revenues talk for themselves.

我以此為例。如果它是面向項目的，它更多地來自諮詢計劃，我認為我們的積壓和諮詢收入不言自明。

That's helpful. And then as a follow-on for Marie, can you maybe talk about M&A at this stage, given the color around the limited deal pipeline, is that by design here? Is it a valuation issue? How should we think about that part of the commentary?

這很有幫助。然後作為 Marie 的後續行動，你能否在這個階段談談併購，考慮到有限交易渠道的顏色，這是設計使然嗎？是估值問題嗎？我們應該如何看待評論的那一部分？

Well, I mean, from an M&A perspective, I mean, it's really around trying to find that right deal, to your point that meets our value proposition. So we've said that, our use of capital that M&A is the first and best to use.

好吧，我的意思是，從併購的角度來看，我的意思是，它實際上是在試圖找到合適的交易，以達到您的觀點，以滿足我們的價值主張。所以我們說過，我們對資本的使用，併購是第一個也是最好的。

But you know where we are -- Surinder, let me add one more thing. I think it's opportunistic, right? And so what we've always said if there wasn't the next right opportunity in front of us, that we would then turn to share repurchases, which obviously, we've done here during the last quarter, and intend to continue with, with the new share authors, repurchase authorization and continued free cash flow here as we go forward.

但是你知道我們在哪裡—— Surinder，讓我再補充一件事。我認為這是機會主義，對吧？因此，我們一直說，如果沒有下一個合適的機會擺在我們面前，我們將轉向股票回購，顯然，我們在上個季度已經在這裡完成了，並打算繼續，隨著我們前進，新股票作者、回購授權和持續的自由現金流。

So look, we still would love to find certain properties that fit our shopping list that we have defined, both in commercial and gov. We continue to talk to various targets and that doesn't stop. It's just slower now and kind of nothing at the lip of the cup. To your point, I think one of your -- the last part of your question was about valuation, and there's still not a discovery evaluation today because they're -- a seller is not willing to sell a really good business into a marketplace where the buyer is not willing to pay what he perceives or she perceives the multiple to be. And so you've got a little bit of a stalemate going on still.

所以看，我們仍然很想找到符合我們定義的購物清單的某些屬性，無論是商業還是政府。我們繼續與各種目標對話，而且不會停止。現在速度變慢了，杯口什麼也沒有了。就你的觀點而言，我認為你的一個 - 你問題的最後一部分是關於估值的，而且今天仍然沒有發現評估，因為他們 - 賣家不願意將一個非常好的企業出售到一個市場買方不願意支付他認為的或她認為的倍數。所以你仍然有一點僵局。

And until the financing markets and the equity capital markets are working in a way that supports a normal amount of deal flow in that discovery can be made. We're at a little bit of a laggerhead, I would say.

直到融資市場和股權資本市場以支持正常交易量的方式運作，才能做出發現。我想說，我們有點落後了。

Our next question comes from Mark Marcon with Baird.

我們的下一個問題來自 Mark Marcon 和 Baird。

This is Andre Childress on for Mark. So my first question will just follow up on the last one. Can you speak about how you feel about your current debt levels? And what are your thoughts on increasing leverage if the right opportunity did come up in this environment?

這是 Mark 的 Andre Childress。所以我的第一個問題只是跟進最後一個問題。您能談談您對當前債務水平的看法嗎？如果在這種環境下確實出現了合適的機會，您對提高槓桿率有何看法？

Sure. So great question, Andre. I mean we're still very modestly leveraged, I think, on a senior basis, secured where less than 1, about 0.9, regarding total leverage basis, it's under 2, 1.9. We've always said that when we're below 2.5, we're kind of under levered, if you will, if there are good M&A opportunities in the marketplace.

當然。這麼好的問題，安德烈。我的意思是我們的槓桿率仍然非常適中，我認為，在高級基礎上，在總槓桿率基礎上低於 1，大約 0.9，低於 2，1.9。我們一直說，當我們低於 2.5 時，如果市場上存在良好的併購機會，那麼我們就有點槓桿化了。

In normal times, we've leveraged up to about 3.8x about -- and we've done that on 5 different occasions, I believe, to make a larger acquisition. And the margin and free cash flow characteristics of the business certainly support that. But these are not normal times. So obviously, we're wary about leverage and how we think about that with so much uncertainty in the market. But we have dry powder. We have free cash flow. We have $460 million revolver that doesn't have anything outstanding on it. We purposefully increased it about 2 quarters ago, so that if the right M&A opportunity came along, we could take advantage of it. So I would say we're willing to take on a little bit of leverage for the right thing, but you won't see us up at 3x and 3.8x leverage metrics until we have some certainty in the market.

在正常情況下，我們的槓桿率高達約 3.8 倍——我相信，我們已經在 5 個不同的場合這樣做，以進行更大規模的收購。該業務的利潤率和自由現金流特徵當然支持這一點。但現在不是正常時期。很明顯，我們對槓桿持謹慎態度，以及我們如何看待市場存在如此多的不確定性。但是我們有乾粉。我們有自由現金流。我們有價值 4.6 億美元的左輪手槍，上面沒有任何突出的東西。我們在大約兩個季度前有意增加了它，這樣如果出現合適的併購機會，我們就可以利用它。所以我想說我們願意為正確的事情承擔一點槓桿，但在我們對市場有一定把握之前，你不會看到我們達到 3 倍和 3.8 倍的槓桿指標。

Great. That's very helpful color. And then my follow-up will be, you spoke a little bit about the new multiphase procurement cycles on the federal side. Could you provide some more color on that? And any initial thoughts on how that could impact strategy or go-to-market operations on the federal side?

偉大的。這是非常有用的顏色。然後我的後續行動是，你談到了聯邦方面新的多階段採購週期。你能提供更多顏色嗎？關於這將如何影響聯邦方面的戰略或上市運營的任何初步想法？

Yes. There's just a lot of gyrations going on in the whole procurement world within the federal government. Still, its hung over from COVID, it's still not quite cycling and working like it should. The government is going to big, multilayered RFPs and awards where they can to be more efficient.

是的。聯邦政府內部的整個採購領域都在發生很多變化。儘管如此，它仍然受到 COVID 的影響，它仍然沒有像它應該的那樣循環和工作。政府將在可以提高效率的地方進行大型、多層次的 RFP 和獎勵。

And that naturally is slowing down the procurement wheel to get something an RFP put together, to get it on the street, to get the right firms to respond to it, to adjudicate all that and then to finally make award. And then on the back end of all that, the world of protest has just taken on another level of craziness. There's just a lot more protests going on. It used to be, you were very careful about making a protest because you were basically telling your customer they were wrong in terms of how they looked at a certain situation and adjudicated down to a final award. But today, nobody is afraid to adjudicated to protest.

這自然會放慢採購輪子的速度，以便將 RFP 放在一起，將其投放市場，讓合適的公司對其做出回應，對所有這些進行裁決，然後最終作出裁決。然後在所有這一切的後端，抗議世界剛剛呈現出另一種瘋狂程度。只是有更多的抗議活動在進行。過去，你在提出抗議時非常小心，因為你基本上是在告訴你的客戶，他們對特定情況的看法以及對最終裁決的判斷是錯誤的。但是今天，沒有人害怕裁定抗議。

It seems like that's the first response, the minute an award is made. So -- and now not only are you seeing protests on the back end after awards are made, you're seeing them on the front end when firms don't agree with how the government customer is putting together the criteria when they put a contract out for bid. So it's just -- there's just a different level of stuff going on in that whole procurement world.

似乎這是第一反應，頒獎的那一刻。所以 - 現在您不僅會在授予合同後在後端看到抗議，而且當公司不同意政府客戶在簽訂合同時如何制定標準時，您也會在前端看到抗議出價。所以它只是 - 在整個採購世界中發生了不同程度的事情。

And it's quite honestly kind of just bringing complexity and slowing down the machine, if you will, beyond the effect of -- the lingering effect from COVID.

老實說，這只是帶來了複雜性並減慢了機器的速度，如果你願意的話，超出了 COVID 揮之不去的影響。

There are no further questions at this time. I would like to turn the floor back over to Ted Hanson, CEO, for closing comments.

目前沒有其他問題。我想將發言權轉回給首席執行官 Ted Hanson，以徵求結束意見。

Great. Well, thank you for being with us today. We appreciate all your questions and your time, and we look forward to announcing our second quarter results later in July.

偉大的。好吧，謝謝你今天和我們在一起。感謝您提出所有問題並抽出寶貴時間，我們期待在 7 月晚些時候公佈我們的第二季度業績。

This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

今天的電話會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。