Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp (BAH) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning and thank you for standing by, and welcome to Booz Allen Hamilton's earnings call covering second quarter fiscal year 2025 results. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, there will be an opportunity for questions.

早安，感謝您的耐心等待，歡迎參加博思艾倫 (Booz Allen Hamilton) 的財報電話會議，該電話會議涉及 2025 財年第二季度的業績。此時，所有參與者都處於只聽模式。稍後會有提問的機會。

I'd now like to turn the call over to Ms. Lindsay Joyce.

我現在想把電話轉給 Lindsay Joyce 女士。

Thank you. Good morning, and thank you for joining us for Booz Allen's second quarter fiscal year 2025 earnings call. We hope you've had an opportunity to read the press release we issued earlier this morning. We have also provided presentation slides on our website and are now on slide 2.

謝謝。早安，感謝您參加博思艾倫 2025 財年第二季財報電話會議。我們希望您有機會閱讀我們今天早上早些時候發布的新聞稿。我們還在我們的網站上提供了簡報幻燈片，現在位於幻燈片 2 上。

With me to talk about our business and financial results are Horacio Rozanski, our Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and President; and Matt Calderone, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

與我一起談論我們的業務和財務表現的是我們的董事長、執行長兼總裁 Horacio Rozanski；執行副總裁兼財務長 Matt Calderone。

As shown in the disclaimer on slide 3, please keep in mind that some of the items we will discuss this morning are forward looking and may relate to future events or our future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from forecasted results discussed in our SEC filings and on this call.

如幻燈片3 上的免責聲明所示，請記住，我們今天上午將討論的一些項目是前瞻性的，可能與未來事件或我們未來的財務業績有關，並涉及已知和未知的風險、不確定性和其他因素。

All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements and speak only as of the date made. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

所有前瞻性陳述均完全受到前述警告性陳述的明確限制，並且僅代表截至做出之日的情況。除法律要求外，我們不承擔公開更新或修改任何前瞻性聲明的義務，無論是由於新資訊、未來事件或其他原因。

During today's call, we will also discuss some non-GAAP financial measures and other metrics, which we believe provide useful information for investors. We include an explanation of adjustments and other reconciliations of our non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measures in our second-quarter fiscal year 2025 earnings release and slides. Numbers presented may be rounded and, as such, may vary slightly from those in our public disclosure.

在今天的電話會議中，我們還將討論一些非公認會計準則財務指標和其他指標，我們認為這些指標為投資者提供了有用的信息。我們在 2025 財年第二季財報發布和投影片中解釋了非 GAAP 指標與最具可比性 GAAP 指標的調整和其他調整。提供的數字可能經過四捨五入，因此可能與我們公開揭露的數字略有不同。

It is now my pleasure to turn the call over to our Chairman, CEO, and President, Horacio Rozanski. We are now on slide 4.

現在我很高興將電話轉給我們的董事長、執行長兼總裁 Horacio Rozanski。我們現在在幻燈片 4 上。

Thank you, Lucy, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining the call.

謝謝你，露西，大家早安。感謝您加入通話。

This morning, Matt and I will discuss the company's excellent second-quarter results. But before we do, allow me to take a moment to acknowledge that the people of Booz Allen continue to excel under circumstances that are far from ordinary. Every day, we see headlines. They highlight conflict and human loss around the world, divisive politics here at home, and more recently, the impact of two devastating hurricanes. The news is heartbreaking and deeply concerning, yet through it all, the people of Booz Allen remain focused, focused on serving our clients, on living our values, and on taking care of each other. This focus and this commitment have been the core of our company for 110 years.

今天早上，馬特和我將討論該公司出色的第二季業績。但在此之前，請容許我花點時間承認，博思艾倫的員工在非同尋常的環境下繼續表現出色。每天，我們都會看到頭條新聞。它們強調了世界各地的衝突和傷亡、國內政治分裂，以及最近兩次毀滅性颶風的影響。這個消息令人心碎，令人深感擔憂，但博思艾倫的員工始終保持專注，專注於服務我們的客戶，實踐我們的價值觀，並互相照顧。110 年來，這種專注和承諾一直是我們公司的核心。

We believe that supporting missions of national importance is more urgent today than ever, bringing leading-edge technology to national missions at speed and scale is essential for it is how we best serve American citizens, protect the US and our allies, and secure a peaceful and prosperous future. Booz Allen's exceptional people make this a reality every single day. I am grateful to everyone of my colleagues, grateful for their dedication, for their talent, and for their passion. Thank you.

我們認為，支持具有國家重要性的任務如今比以往任何時候都更加緊迫，以速度和規模將尖端技術帶入國家任務至關重要，因為這是我們如何最好地服務美國公民、保護美國和我們的盟友以及確保和平的方式和繁榮的未來。博思艾倫的傑出員工每天都讓這一切成為現實。我感謝我的每一位同事，感謝他們的奉獻、才華和熱情。謝謝。

With that as a backdrop, let's discuss the quarter. In Q2, our operational momentum accelerated, driving excellent topline performance and cash generation, strong profitability and headcount growth, and record backlog. In addition to strong business performance, we also realized some discrete items this quarter that further enhance our results and which Matt will discuss in a few minutes. Despite the challenges and uncertainties in the environment, we believe we are well positioned operationally and strategically to deliver on this fiscal year and beyond. Our growth strategy, VoLT, which stands for velocity, leadership, and technology continues to fuel our performance and positions us for the future.

以此為背景，我們來討論本季。第二季度，我們的營運勢頭加速，推動了出色的營收業績和現金生成、強勁的盈利能力和員工人數增長以及創紀錄的積壓。除了強勁的業務表現之外，我們本季還實現了一些離散項目，這些項目進一步提高了我們的業績，馬特將在幾分鐘內討論這些項目。儘管環境中存在挑戰和不確定性，但我們相信我們在營運和策略上處於有利地位，可以在本財年及以後實現目標。我們的成長策略 VoLT 代表速度、領導力和技術，繼續推動我們的業績並為我們的未來奠定基礎。

We now expect to deliver above our original expectations for fiscal year 2025 and are pleased to raise and narrow our top and bottomline guidance. This revised range also positions us to exceed the top end of our multiyear investment thesis which concludes at the end of this fiscal year. I am tremendously proud that our people have driven performance above the ambitious expectations we set in 2021. Booz Allen has delivered outstanding organic revenue growth, disciplined capital deployment, and a robust increase in EBITDA dollars. This is the ultimate proof point that VoLT is working.

我們現在預計 2025 財年的業績將超出我們最初的預期，並很高興提高和縮小我們的頂線和底線指引。這項修訂後的範圍也使我們超越了本財政年度結束時所得出的多年投資理論的上限。我感到非常自豪，我們的員工所取得的業績超出了我們在 2021 年設定的雄心勃勃的期望。博思艾倫實現了出色的有機收入成長、嚴格的資本部署以及 EBITDA 的強勁成長。這是 VoLT 發揮作用的最終證明。

Before Matt takes you through our performance and guidance in-depth, I would like to spend a few minutes talking about the evolving dynamics within each of our markets. As you well know, our clients are operating in highly complex environments. They are increasingly pressured by geopolitical instability, rapidly advancing technology cycles, and a growing threat landscape, all in from political and economic environment. Within this context, Booz Allen's strives to use innovation to help our clients navigate these expanding and durable challenges and to drive our own financial performance. And just as we have transformed to gain speed and scale in bringing technology to missions, we feel we are prepared to adapt to these conditions and achieve our growth goals.

在馬特向您深入介紹我們的績效和指導之前，我想花幾分鐘討論我們每個市場不斷變化的動態。眾所周知，我們的客戶在高度複雜的環境中運作。他們越來越受到地緣政治不穩定、快速發展的技術週期以及日益增長的威脅情況的壓力，所有這些都來自政治和經濟環境。在此背景下，博思艾倫致力於利用創新來幫助我們的客戶應對這些不斷擴大和持久的挑戰，並推動我們自己的財務表現。正如我們已經轉型以提高將技術帶入任務的速度和規模一樣，我們認為我們已經準備好適應這些條件並實現我們的成長目標。

I'll start with our civil portfolio which continues to be strong and vibrant. Civil revenues rose approximately 12% from the prior-year quarter, exclusive of the discrete items Matt will cover in more detail. Technology has fundamentally altered the relationship between the federal government and its citizens. It has also changed the means, methods, and pace of collaboration between government agencies. Across a range of missions, we are helping our clients support citizens, their well-being, and the resilience of the national economy.

我將從我們持續強勁且充滿活力的民事投資組合開始。民用收入較去年同期增長約 12%，不包括馬特將更詳細介紹的離散項目。科技從根本上改變了聯邦政府與其公民之間的關係。它也改變了政府機構之間合作的手段、方法和節奏。我們肩負著一系列使命，幫助客戶支持公民、他們的福祉和國家經濟的復原力。

When put together, this has driven double-digit growth in this business for the past 13 quarters, along with strong margins and high demand. And so today, building on two decades supporting civil clients with IT modernization and transformation, we are able to capitalize on technology advancements and leverage data to deliver scaled outcomes at the mission level. As our civil clients' missions become more complex and interconnected, Booz Allen is in a unique position to help them and, in doing so, continue robust growth over the medium term.

總而言之，這推動了該業務在過去 13 個季度實現兩位數成長，同時伴隨著強勁的利潤率和高需求。因此，今天，在過去二十年為民用客戶提供 IT 現代化和轉型支援的基礎上，我們能夠利用技術進步並利用數據在任務層面提供規模化成果。隨著我們的民事客戶的任務變得更加複雜和相互關聯，博思艾倫處於獨特的地位來幫助他們，並​​在此過程中在中期繼續強勁增長。

In the immediate term, our civil clients are facing greater uncertainty inherent in the current political season and limited visibility into the next administration's domestic agenda. This is manifesting in some turbulence in the demand and acquisition processes and an increase in price competition. Our near-term prospects remain strong. But we are seeing more disruption in the procurement environment than in the past few years.

短期內，我們的民事客戶面臨著當前政治季節固有的更大不確定性，以及下一屆政府國內議程的可見性有限。這體現在需求和採購過程中的一些動盪以及價格競爭的加劇。我們的近期前景依然強勁。但與過去幾年相比，我們看到採購環境受到了更多破壞。

Let's turn now to the intelligence market. We are thrilled to see a return to growth this quarter as anticipated. Revenue increased 8% year over year in this market, exclusive of the discrete items. We have completed our transition of this business from primarily analysts focused to one that is truly technology-enabled. It is optimized to leverage advanced technologies to support intelligence missions across domains.

現在讓我們轉向情報市場。我們很高興看到本季如預期恢復成長。該市場的營收年增 8%（不包括離散產品）。我們已經完成了這項業務的轉變，從主要以分析師為中心到真正由技術支援的業務。它經過優化，可以利用先進技術來支援跨領域的情報任務。

Our approach to cyber as one battle space is a great example. We organized our cyber business to meet adversaries where they are, across defense, Intel, civil and commercial infrastructures, enabling us to bring the full scale and expertise in Booz Allen anywhere in this mission.

我們將網路作為一個戰場空間的方法就是一個很好的例子。我們組織我們的網路業務，以滿足來自國防、英特爾、民用和商業基礎設施等領域的對手，使我們能夠將博思艾倫的全面規模和專業知識帶到這項使命的任何地方。

Those of you who had a chance to attend our cyber event last month, our Helix Center for Innovation, saw how the evolution of this business over three decades has positioned Booz Allen at the center of nearly all major cyber missions across public and private sectors. We expect our total cyber revenue to reach between $2.5 billion and $2.8 billion by the end of this fiscal year, and we aim to double that revenue in the next 5 years. Without a doubt, Booz Allen is one of the most impactful cybersecurity firms today.

上個月有機會參加我們的網路活動（Helix 創新中心）的人們，看到了這項業務三十年來的發展如何使博思艾倫成為公共和私營部門幾乎所有主要網路任務的中心。我們預計到本財年結束時，我們的網路總收入將達到 25 億至 28 億美元，而我們的目標是在未來 5 年內將這筆收入翻倍。毫無疑問，博思艾倫是當今最具影響力的網路安全公司之一。

Given the accelerated pace and scope of our adversaries and the relative budget stability in this market, we believe we are well positioned to capture future opportunities. We expect to see significant growth in our intelligence business, both in the near and in the medium term.

鑑於我們的對手的步伐和範圍的加快以及該市場的相對預算穩定性，我們相信我們處於有利位置以抓住未來的機會。我們預計我們的情報業務在短期和中期都會顯著成長。

Finally, and excitingly, our defense business, which has delivered double-digit growth for the past six quarters, continues to accelerate, with revenue increasing 17% year over year, exclusive of discrete items. This is driven by two primary components. One, the strategic support we are providing to clients around the world on existing geopolitical conflicts; and two, the increasingly important role that Booz Allen plays in modernizing existing systems and building the war-fighting capability of the future. Aligned with strategic defense missions in Europe, the Pacific, and elsewhere, we have won several awards exceeding $500 million each just in the first half of FY25. This critical work is delivered by a growing defense talent base and augmented by technology investments in key areas including space, AI, and the digital battle space.

最後，令人興奮的是，我們的國防業務在過去六個季度實現了兩位數成長，並且繼續加速成長，營收年增 17%（不包括離散產品）。這是由兩個主要組件驅動的。第一，我們為世界各地的客戶提供現有地緣政治衝突的策略支援；第二，博思艾倫在現有系統現代化和未來作戰能力建設方面發揮越來越重要的作用。與歐洲、太平洋和其他地區的戰略防禦任務相結合，我們僅在 2025 財年上半年就贏得了多個獎項，每個獎項均超過 5 億美元。這項關鍵工作是由不斷增長的國防人才基礎來完成的，並透過在太空、人工智慧和數位戰鬥空間等關鍵領域的技術投資來加強。

Together, these components, exceptional talent, and cutting-edge technology drive growth across our defense business. And they are producing new opportunities such as our recent five-year $2.6 billion task order award called Service Solutions for Modernization, Analysis, Readiness Capability, Threat And Training, or SSMARTT. SSMARTT includes a full spectrum of innovative enterprise services and solutions. This work supports the modernization of current force structure capabilities across the Army and its strategic mission partners. SSMARTT is one of a number of contracts that focuses on the acceleration of technology into defense missions.

這些要素、傑出人才和尖端技術共同推動了我們整個國防業務的成長。他們正在創造新的機會，例如我們最近的五年 26 億美元任務訂單獎，稱為現代化、分析、準備能力、威脅和培訓服務解決方案或 SSMARTT。SSMARTT 包括全方位的創新企業服務和解決方案。這項工作支持陸軍及其戰略任務夥伴當前部隊結構能力的現代化。SSMARTT 是專注於加速技術進入國防任務的眾多合約之一。

This is well aligned to Booz Allen's focus on delivering innovation at speed including through dual-use technologies. We continue to build, partner, and invest in new ways to help maintain US technological superiority in our national security posture. Amid geopolitical conflict and tension, urgency for accelerating defense missions and strong demand for emerging technology, we remain confident about the continued expansion of our defense business and of its impact.

這與博思艾倫致力於快速提供創新（包括透過軍民兩用技術）的重點非常吻合。我們繼續建立、合作和投資新方法，以幫助維持美國在國家安全態勢中的技術優勢。在地緣政治衝突和緊張局勢、加速國防任務的緊迫性以及對新興技術的強勁需求的情況下，我們對國防業務的持續擴張及其影響仍然充滿信心。

To summarize, across our business, we are staying close to our clients and mapping a path of growth that responds to their evolving needs. VoLT has positioned us to accelerate a virtuous cycle across client work, talent and investments. And as you well know, Booz Allen always looks to outpace and especially so in rapidly evolving markets. Thus, I am extremely pleased with the progress we have made, strategically and financially at the midpoint of this fiscal year and as we approach the end of our investment thesis period.

總而言之，在我們的整個業務中，我們與客戶保持密切聯繫，並制定一條滿足他們不斷變化的需求的成長路徑。VoLT 讓我們能夠加速客戶工作、人才和投資的良性循環。眾所周知，博思艾倫總是尋求超越，尤其是在快速發展的市場中。因此，我對我們在本財年中期以及投資論文期即將結束之際在策略和財務上取得的進展感到非常滿意。

Working alongside our clients, Booz Allen is making a tangible difference across the most critical and most enduring missions of our time.

博思艾倫與我們的客戶合作，在我們這個時代最關鍵和最持久的任務中發揮著切實的作用。

And with that, Matt, the floor is yours.

就這樣，馬特，地板就是你的了。

Thank you, Horacio, and good morning, everybody. As Horacio said, we had a strong second quarter, both operationally and financially. We continue to generate significant momentum in the quarter. And as a result, Booz Allen remains well positioned to deliver compounding growth and financial returns into the future.

謝謝你，奧拉西奧，大家早安。正如奧拉西奧所說，我們的第二季在營運和財務方面都表現強勁。我們在本季繼續產生巨大的動力。因此，博思艾倫仍然處於有利地位，能夠在未來實現複合成長和財務回報。

I have a lot of good news to report, but I recognize that our results this quarter may require more explanation than usual. To aid in that, we have provided a detailed crosswalk of our fiscal year guidance in our earnings presentation. I have six takeaways from our performance in the quarter that should frame how you interpret our results.

我有很多好消息要報告，但我認識到我們本季的業績可能需要比平常更多的解釋。為了幫助實現這一點，我們在收益報告中提供了詳細的財政年度指導。我從本季的表現中得到了六個要點，這些要點應該可以幫助您解釋我們的結果。

First, we had a strong operating quarter. At the top line, organic revenue growth was in the solid double digits even when excluding some discrete items in the quarter. Adjusted EBITDA margins increased significantly due to improved operational performance, cost discipline taking hold faster than anticipated, and reversal of some of the nonoperational and timing-related factors discussed on our last call. Second, we continue to build significant momentum. We booked $8.2 billion of awards in the second quarter, not including work under protest.

首先，我們的季度營運表現強勁。在營收方面，即使排除本季的一些離散項目，有機收入成長仍保持穩定的兩位數。由於營運績效改善、成本紀律的落實速度快於預期以及我們上次電話會議中討論的一些非營運和時間相關因素的逆轉，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率顯著增加。其次，我們繼續形成強大勢頭。我們在第二季度預訂了 82 億美元的獎項，其中不包括受到抗議的作品。

Our backlog now stands at a record $41 billion. We continue to hire aggressively. Through the first half of this fiscal year, we have increased client staff by 4.3%.

我們的積壓訂單現已達到創紀錄的 410 億美元。我們繼續積極招募。本財年上半年，我們的客戶員工人數增加了 4.3%。

Third, three discrete items occurred in the quarter that will collectively provide immediate and long-term financial benefits. I will cover these in detail in a moment. Fourth, we deployed a significant amount of capital to generate value for shareholders. In the quarter, we repurchased about 1.2% of our shares or $232 million worth at an average price of $146.63 per share. Fifth, as a result, we are pleased to raise guidance across all metrics for full fiscal year 2025.

第三，本季發生的三項離散事項將共同帶來即時和長期的財務效益。我稍後將詳細介紹這些內容。第四，我們部署大量資本為股東創造價值。本季度，我們以每股 146.63 美元的平均價格回購了約 1.2% 的股票，價值 2.32 億美元。第五，因此，我們很高興提高 2025 財年所有指標的指導。

And finally, as Horacio said, we are now guiding to exceed the top end of our investment thesis, almost entirely through organic performance. As I mentioned, our headline numbers were positively impacted by the three discrete items in the quarter. Let me walk you through these items before I dive into our second-quarter numbers in more detail. Please turn to slide 10.

最後，正如奧拉西奧所說，我們現在正在指導超越我們投資理論的上限，幾乎完全通過有機績效。正如我所提到的，我們的整體數據受到本季度三個離散項目的正面影響。在更詳細地介紹我們第二季的數據之前，讓我先向您介紹這些項目。請翻到投影片 10。

First, we collected a $115 million recovery from our insurers related to the Department of Justice settlement last fiscal year. This was not contemplated in our original fiscal year guidance, is additive to operating cash flow for the quarter, and is excluded from adjusted EBITDA. Second, we received a roughly $200 million tailwind to operating cash this quarter related to the modernization of our payroll in July. This was reflected in our original fiscal year guidance.

首先，我們從保險公司追償了上一財政年度與司法部和解相關的 1.15 億美元。我們最初的財政年度指導中沒有考慮到這一點，它會增加本季度的營運現金流，並且不包括在調整後的 EBITDA 中。其次，由於 7 月的薪資現代化，本季我們獲得了約 2 億美元的營運現金支援。這反映在我們最初的財政年度指導中。

And finally, we received results of incurred cost submission audits for three historical rate years. This resulted in a change in estimate for our provision for claimed costs for all rate years subsequent to fiscal year 2011.

最後，我們收到了三個歷史費率年度的已發生成本提交審核結果。這導致我們對 2011 財年之後所有費率年度的索賠成本準備金的估計發生了變化。

As we have disclosed, Booz Allen did not have normal course government cost accounting audits for more than a decade. As a result, by the end of last quarter, we had accumulated a reserve of about $375 million for estimated adjustments to historical claimed costs. This provision for claimed costs covers all rate years subsequent to our fiscal year 2011, none of which have been fully resolved. Since our settlement last July, a wide range of activity has resumed, including incurred cost submission audits for a total of four historical rate years.

正如我們所揭露的，博思艾倫十多年來沒有進行正常的政府成本會計審計。因此，到上季末，我們已累積了約 3.75 億美元的準備金，用於歷史索賠成本的估計調整。這項索賠費用準備金涵蓋了 2011 財年之後的所有費率年度，但這些年度均未完全解決。自去年 7 月和解以來，廣泛的活動已經恢復，包括總共四個歷史費率年度的成本提交審查。

Teams from Booz Allen, along with our government counterparts at DCMA and DCAA, have worked tirelessly to address this backlog of audits. And thanks to their efforts, we are also now back on a normal course annual review cycle. This work has been hard, but the collective focus on collaboration, mutual respect, and transparency has yielded real progress. I very much appreciate the efforts of everyone to date, while recognizing that significant work remains to be done.

Booz Allen 的團隊以及 DCMA 和 DCAA 的政府同行一直在不懈地努力，以解決積壓的審計問題。感謝他們的努力，我們現在也回到了正常的年度審查週期。這項工作很艱難，但對協作、相互尊重和透明度的集體關注已經取得了真正的進展。我非常感謝每個人迄今為止所做的努力，同時認識到仍有大量工作要做。

The impact of this effort will occur over three timeframes. First, we changed our estimate of the provision for claimed costs for all open rate years back to fiscal year 2011. Our total provision for claimed costs as of September 30 was reduced to $246 million. This reduction increased revenue by $122 million in the second quarter or 4.6%. Of this $122 million, about $113 million were related to reserves for historical years and thus have been excluded from adjusted EBITDA.

這項工作的影響將在三個時間段內顯現。首先，我們將所有開放利率年度的索賠成本準備金的估計改為 2011 財政年度。截至 9 月 30 日，我們的理賠費用撥備總額減少至 2.46 億美元。這一減少使第二季收入增加了 1.22 億美元，即 4.6%。在這 1.22 億美元中，約 1.13 億美元與歷史年份的儲備金相關，因此已排除在調整後 EBITDA 之外。

Second, we reduced the provision for claimed costs for the first half of this fiscal year and revised our forecast for the second half. We anticipate about a $30 million positive impact to adjusted EBITDA for this fiscal year relative to our original guidance assumptions. Third, we anticipate an approximately 20-basis-point increase in our profit margins going forward. This will better reflect the underlying profitability of our business and is consistent with industry practice. Please note that while we continue to make progress with our regulators, there have not been any final resolutions nor any cash settlements related to our open rate years.

其次，我們減少了本財年上半年的索賠成本撥備，並修改了下半年的預測。相對於我們最初的指導假設，我們預計本財年調整後 EBITDA 將產生約 3000 萬美元的正面影響。第三，我們預計未來利潤率將增加約 20 個基點。這將更好地反映我們業務的潛在盈利能力，並且符合行業慣例。請注意，雖然我們繼續與監管機構取得進展，但尚未就我們的開放利率年份達成任何最終決議或任何現金結算。

I'll now cover our quarterly results in more detail. Please turn to slide 6. Total revenue for the quarter grew 18% year over year to $3.1 billion. Organic revenue increased 17% year over year, and revenue excluding billable expenses grew about 18%. The change in provision for claimed cost I just described increased quarterly revenue growth by 4.6%. This increase was felt proportionally across all markets.

我現在將更詳細地介紹我們的季度業績。請翻到幻燈片 6。該季度總營收年增 18%，達到 31 億美元。有機收入年增 17%，扣除可計費費用的收入成長約 18%。我剛才描述的索賠成本準備金的變化使季度收入增長了 4.6%。所有市場都相應地感受到了這種成長。

Moving now to demand, please turn to slide 7. Net bookings for the quarter were $8.2 billion, and our quarterly book to bill was 2.6 times. This translated to a trailing 12-month book to bill of 1.5 times. This is our highest in six years.

現在轉向需求，請轉到投影片 7。本季淨預訂量為 82 億美元，季度預訂比為 2.6 倍。這意味著過去 12 個月的帳本比是 1.5 倍。這是我們六年來的最高水準。

Total backlog as of September 30 was a record $41 billion, up about 18% from a year ago. This exceptional bookings performance, particularly strong in Defense and Intel, provides us ample fuel for continued above-market growth.

截至 9 月 30 日，積壓訂單總額達到創紀錄的 410 億美元，比去年同期成長約 18%。這種出色的預訂表現，尤其是國防和英特爾領域的強勁預訂表現，為我們持續高於市場的成長提供了充足的動力。

Our performance in the supply side was just as strong. In the first half, we grew client staff by 1,360, a 4.3% increase in client staff in our first half alone. This puts us on pace to exceed our fiscal year target of 3% to 5% growth and sets us up well for this year and beyond. Our total client staff headcount is now nearly 33,000 employees. This is 8.1% higher than a year ago. In a competitive labor market, the Booz Allen value proposition continues to resonate.

我們在供應方面的表現同樣強勁。上半年，我們增加了 1,360 名客戶員工，光上半年就增加了 4.3%。這使我們有望超越 3% 至 5% 的財政年度成長目標，並為我們今年及以後的發展奠定良好的基礎。目前，我們的客戶員工總數已接近 33,000 名。比一年前高出 8.1%。在競爭激烈的勞動力市場中，博思艾倫的價值主張繼續引起共鳴。

Moving now to the bottom line. We delivered $364 million in adjusted EBITDA, approximately 25% higher than the prior-year period. Our adjusted EBITDA margin was 11.6%, up 70 basis points compared to the prior year quarter. This exceeded our expectations and was ahead of the moderately ascending margin profile we projected on our first quarter earnings call. For the first half, our adjusted EBITDA margin was 10.9%, roughly on par with our expectations for the full fiscal year.

現在轉到底線。我們實現了 3.64 億美元的調整後 EBITDA，比去年同期成長約 25%。我們調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 11.6%，比去年同期成長 70 個基點。這超出了我們的預期，並且超出了我們在第一季財報電話會議上預期的利潤率適度上升的水平。上半年，我們調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 10.9%，與我們對整個財年的預期大致持平。

Moving down the P&L. Net income for the quarter was $390 million, 129% higher year over year. In addition to the items I noted previously, this included an $11 million fair value increase to two strategic investments in our corporate venture capital fund. Adjusted net income increased 38% year over year to $233 million. Diluted earnings per share increased 133% year over year to $3.01 per share. Adjusted diluted earnings per share increased 40% year over year to $1.81.

損益表向下移動。該季度淨利潤為 3.9 億美元，年增 129%。除了我之前提到的項目外，這還包括我們企業創投基金兩項策略投資的公允價值增加 1,100 萬美元。調整後淨利年增 38%，達到 2.33 億美元。稀釋每股收益年增 133% 至每股 3.01 美元。調整後稀釋每股盈餘年增 40% 至 1.81 美元。

Transitioning to the balance sheet. We ended the second quarter with $559 million of cash on hand, net debt of $3 billion, and a net leverage ratio of 2.3 times adjusted EBITDA for the trailing 12 months. Free cash flow for the quarter was $563 million. The result of $587 million of cash from operations less $24 million of CapEx. In addition to the impact of discrete items I noted earlier, we had a strong collection quarter, evidenced by a four-day DSO improvement over the prior-year quarter.

過渡到資產負債表。第二季結束時，我們手頭現金為 5.59 億美元，淨債務為 30 億美元，過去 12 個月的淨槓桿率為調整後 EBITDA 的 2.3 倍。該季度的自由現金流為 5.63 億美元。5.87 億美元的營運現金減去 2,400 萬美元的資本支出的結果。除了我之前提到的離散項目的影響之外，我們的收款季度表現強勁，四天的 DSO 比去年同期有所改善就證明了這一點。

Turning now to capital deployment on slide 8. In the second quarter, we deployed a total of $300 million. This included $232 million in share repurchases, $66 million in quarterly dividends, and $2 million of strategic investments through our corporate venture capital fund. In addition, I'll note that our Board has approved a quarterly dividend of $0.51 per share, which will be payable on December 4 to stockholders of record as of November 15.

現在轉向幻燈片 8 上的資本部署。第二季度，我們總共部署了 3 億美元。其中包括 2.32 億美元的股票回購、6,600 萬美元的季度股息以及透過我們的企業創投基金進行的 200 萬美元的策略投資。此外，我要指出的是，我們的董事會已批准每股 0.51 美元的季度股息，將於 12 月 4 日向截至 11 月 15 日在冊的股東支付。

The strength of our balance sheet gives us operating flexibility and the ability to deploy capital in a disciplined manner to generate value for shareholders. It remains a source of strategic advantage. Our strong first half performance sets us up well for potential volatility and uncertainty in the second half. We are on track for an excellent fiscal year overall.

我們的資產負債表實力使我們能夠靈活地運營，並能夠以嚴格的方式部署資本，為股東創造價值。它仍然是戰略優勢的來源。我們上半年的強勁表現為我們下半年的潛在波動和不確定性做好了準備。總體而言，我們有望迎來一個出色的財政年度。

Let me now walk you through our updated guidance for fiscal year 2025. Please turn to slide 9. At the top line, we now expect revenue growth of 11% to 13%. We are raising our adjusted EBITDA guidance to a range of $1.3 billion to $1.33 billion. This implies an adjusted EBITDA margin of about 11%.

現在讓我向您介紹我們更新的 2025 財政年度指南。請翻到投影片 9。在營收方面，我們目前預計營收將成長 11% 至 13%。我們將調整後的 EBITDA 指引提高至 13 億美元至 13.3 億美元的範圍。這意味著調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率約為 11%。

We now anticipate operating cash flow of between $925 million and $1.025 billion, and free cash flow of between $825 million and $925 million. Lastly, we are raising our ADEPS guidance to a range of $6.10 to $6.30 per share.

我們目前預計營運現金流在 9.25 億美元至 10.25 億美元之間，自由現金流在 8.25 億美元至 9.25 億美元之間。最後，我們將 ADEPS 指引提高至每股 6.10 美元至 6.30 美元的範圍。

In closing, we are extremely proud of our second-quarter performance. Let me share again my six core takeaways. First, we had a strong operating quarter. Second, we continue to build significant momentum.

最後，我們對第二季的業績感到非常自豪。讓我再分享我的六大核心要點。首先，我們的季度營運表現強勁。其次，我們繼續形成強大勢頭。

Third, three discrete items occurred that collectively provide immediate and long-term financial benefits. This includes an anticipated roughly 20-basis-point lasting increase to EBITDA margins. Fourth, we deployed a significant amount of capital to generate value for shareholders. Fifth, we are pleased to raise guidance across all metrics for full fiscal year 2025.

第三，出現了三個獨立的項目，但它們共同提供了短期和長期的財務利益。這包括預計 EBITDA 利潤率將持續成長約 20 個基點。第四，我們部署大量資本為股東創造價值。第五，我們很高興提出 2025 財政年度所有指標的指導。

And finally, we are now guiding to exceed the top end of our investment thesis almost entirely through organic performance, a truly exceptional feat. As always, Booz Allen continued to build in this quarter, positioning us well to deliver compounding growth and financial returns well into the future.

最後，我們現在幾乎完全透過有機績效來指導超越我們投資理論的上限，這是一項真正非凡的壯舉。像往常一樣，博思艾倫在本季度繼續發展，使我們能夠在未來實現複合成長和財務回報。

With that, operator, let's open the line for questions.

那麼，接線員，讓我們打開提問線路。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Ellen Page, Jefferies.

艾倫佩奇，杰弗里斯。

Guidance implies a deceleration. I guess, there's one-time items in Q2, but 9% organic in H2, I think. How do we think about the drivers of growth in the back half? And what are you contemplating in terms of election risk and the risk from a change in administration?

指導意味著減速。我想，第二季有一次性產品，但下半年有機產品佔 9%。我們如何看待下半年的成長動力？您在考慮選舉風險和政府更迭風險方面有何考慮？

Sure, Ellen. Why don't I start. First of all, as you said, this is a turbulent environment with some uncertainty in it. It's inevitable to know that we're 11 days from a very significant election that will not just affect who's in the White House but also could affect who controls the Chamber of Congress. And that does create some potential for reduced visibility and a change of priorities and agendas in the near term, as we said, particularly in our civil market.

當然，艾倫。我為什麼不開始。首先，正如你所說，這是一個動盪的環境，存在一些不確定性。不可避免的是，距離一場非常重要的選舉還有 11 天，這場選舉不僅會影響誰入主白宮，還可能影響誰控制國會。正如我們所說，這確實會在短期內降低可見度以及改變優先事項和議程，特別是在我們的民用市場。

We are also -- geopolitically, there are two ongoing wars in the Middle East and Eastern Europe and increasing tensions in the Indo-Pacific which also affects the entirety of our markets. And so taken together, this is a more volatile external environment that we've seen in a while.

從地緣政治角度來看，中東和東歐正在發生兩場戰爭，印度-太平洋地區的緊張局勢日益加劇，這也影響了我們的整個市場。綜上所述，這是我們一段時間以來所看到的更不穩定的外在環境。

So against that backdrop, the performance in the first half is something that we're very proud of. The team did an exceptional job managing through all of that and doing two things. First of all, delivering excellent results, but importantly, driving momentum. And so when you look at hiring, when you look at backlog, when you look at all of the leading indicators of the business, they are all extremely positive and, to some degree, ahead of pace. So we feel very good about where we are.

所以在這樣的背景下，上半場的表現是我們非常自豪的。團隊在管理所有這些方面做得非常出色，並做了兩件事。首先，取得優異的成績，但更重要的是，推動動力。因此，當你查看招聘、積壓訂單、業務的所有領先指標時，它們都非常積極，並且在某種程度上領先。所以我們對自己所處的位置感覺非常好。

There's always the possibility of a black swan-type event. We have not contemplated that into anything by definition because you can't know what that could be.

黑天鵝事件的可能性總是存在的。我們還沒有根據定義將其考慮到任何事情中，因為你不知道那可能是什麼。

But this is my third change of administration. This will be my third change of administration in the almost decade that I've been in this job and then many more in my time at Booz Allen. And I will tell you this, our operating model becomes a unique asset when there's a change in priorities because we tend to be able to adapt to changing priorities to figure out how to support clients against new demands really faster than anybody else. And while past is not necessarily an indication of future and all of that, we look to outpace when there's a change like this.

但這是我第三次換屆。這將是我擔任這份工作近十年來的第三次行政變動，而且在博思艾倫期間還有很多次。我會告訴你，當優先事項發生變化時，我們的營運模式將成為一種獨特的資產，因為我們往往能夠適應不斷變化的優先事項，從而比其他任何人更快地找出如何支持客戶應對新需求的方法。雖然過去並不一定預示著未來以及所有這些，但當出現這樣的變化時，我們希望能夠超越。

And so as I look at the business, and again, absent something totally unforeseen, I feel very bullish about where we are, both at the top line and at the bottom line as I look not just at this year but coming into next year.

因此，當我審視業務時，再次，在沒有完全不可預見的情況下，我對我們的現狀感到非常樂觀，無論是在營收還是淨利潤方面，因為我不僅關註今年，而且展望明年。

Helpful. And maybe one for Matt. You mentioned that you haven't seen a cash impact from the change in audit adjustments. What could -- what's the range of outcomes there? Can you help us understand that?

有幫助。也許是給馬特的。您提到尚未看到審計調整的變化對現金產生影響。可能會發生什麼事——結果的範圍是什麼？你能幫助我們理解這一點嗎？

We have not seen a cash impact. And a reminder, we haven't fully settled these rate years, although we do have four audits, which gave us comfort in changing the estimates for the impact of the backlog. But I would not build any exploitation of cash into your models. Right now, we think we're appropriately reserved, and that should be your expectation.

我們還沒有看到現金影響。提醒一下，我們還沒有完全解決這些費率年份的問題，儘管我們確實進行了四次審計，這讓我們在改變積壓影響的估計方面感到放心。但我不會在你的模型中建立任何對現金的利用。目前，我們認為我們的保留是適當的，這應該是您的期望。

Cai von Rumohr, TD Cowen.

蔡·馮·魯莫爾，TD·考恩。

Good results. So Matt, you basically mentioned the benefits of the payroll modernization and to Ellen's point regarding the claims, you've got good improvement in your DSOs about, what, 64 days. That's still well above many of your competitors. Where do you think that number can go? And how long would it take to get there?

良好的結果。馬特，您基本上提到了工資現代化的好處，對於艾倫關於索賠的觀點，您的 DSO 得到了很大的改進，大約是 64 天。這仍然遠高於許多競爭對手。你認為這個數字可以去哪裡？到達那裡需要多長時間？

As I've mentioned, I think, at your conference, embedded in our DSO numbers is about five days of DSOs that are tied up in the resolution of these backlog audits. Look, we aspire to generate 100% or more free cash flow relative to net income. And we're close to there, Cai. We improved DSO performance this year, as you said, four days in the quarter, two days for the full year.

正如我所提到的，我認為，在你們的會議上，我們的 DSO 數字中嵌入了大約五天的 DSO，這些 DSO 與解決這些積壓審計有關。看，我們渴望產生相對於淨利潤 100% 或更多的自由現金流。我們就快到了，蔡。正如您所說，我們今年改進了 DSO 性能，季度四天，全年兩天。

We think that two days will persist, and we're going to continue to work on it to bring us closer to where we want to be. But very happy with our cash performance overall. Obviously, the one-time good guy of the net insurance recovery was excellent in this quarter, and we continue to improve operationally.

我們認為這兩天將會持續下去，我們將繼續努力，讓我們更接近我們想要的目標。但對我們的整體現金表現非常滿意。顯然，淨保險回收這個曾經的好人在本季度表現非常出色，我們在營運上不斷改進。

Terrific. And then obviously, the bookings were great, all of that's fabulous. In prior quarters, you've given some useful metrics in terms of gauging your potential going forward. That would be qualified pipeline submitted proposals and proposals in process. Where were they at the end of the quarter?

了不起。顯然，預訂量很大，這一切都很棒。在前幾季中，您提供了一些有用的指標來衡量您的未來潛力。這將是合格的管道提交的提案和正在進行的提案。本季末他們在哪裡？

Yes. We had so much news, Cai, to report that. It was a busy quarter. But our qualified pipeline is roughly in line with where it was at this point last year. It's about $20 billion or more in qualified pipeline.

是的。蔡，我們有很多新聞要報導這一點。這是一個繁忙的季度。但我們的合格管道與去年此時的情況大致一致。合格的管道價值約為 200 億美元或更多。

But we had a strong finish to last year as well. So we're really pleased with our book to bill. As you know, this excludes word under protest, but we're in as good a place as we've been really in the last half a decade from a demand perspective.

但去年我們也取得了不錯的成績。所以我們對我們的帳單非常滿意。如你所知，這不包括抗議的話，但從需求角度來看，我們的處境與過去五年來的情況一樣好。

Yeah, that's absolutely right. I think it's worth sort of coming back to that point that we really are not demand constrained. I mean if you look at the last 12 months, the trailing book-to-bill is 1.5, which is we haven't seen something along those numbers in five or six years. And what makes me excited is when I look at the work we're doing in Indo-Pacific, when I look at the work we are doing against key domestic priorities like public health, we see demand increasing, and we see what we're bringing, which is the top AI business, the top cyber business, leading business in digital transformation and then new ideas around using AI for software-defined networks using quantum as really things our clients are more and more interested in, more and more asking for and more and more getting included in some of these very large procurements.

是的，完全正確。我認為值得回到這一點，即我們確實不受需求限制。我的意思是，如果你看看過去 12 個月，追蹤的訂單出貨比是 1.5，這是我們五、六年來沒有看到的數字。讓我興奮的是，當我看到我們在印太地區所做的工作，當我看到我們針對公共衛生等國內關鍵優先事項所做的工作時，我們看到需求在增加，我們看到我們正在做什麼帶來頂級的人工智慧業務、頂級的網路業務、數位轉型的領先業務，以及將人工智慧用於軟體定義網路的新想法，使用量子作為我們的客戶越來越感興趣、越來越要求的東西越來越多的企業參與其中一些大型採購。

Louie DiPalma, William Blair.

路易·迪帕爾瑪，威廉·布萊爾。

Can you discuss just how strong the demand environment is relative to how there seems to potentially be a headwind from the Advana contract next year. And I think, Matt, at a recent conference, you alluded to a churn incident related to a Department of Veterans Affairs contract that was awarded to Deloitte. Is demand so strong that any one particular contract or two contracts isn't enough to really sway the overall organic revenue trajectory of the company?

您能否討論一下相對於明年 Advana 合約可能出現的阻力而言，需求環境有多強勁？我認為，馬特，在最近的一次會議上，您提到了與退伍軍人事務部授予德勤的合約有關的客戶流失事件。需求是否如此強勁，以至於任何一份或兩份合約都不足以真正影響公司的整體有機收入軌跡？

Louie, that's a great question. I think the two of us are potentially going to want to comment on it. Let me start by saying, as you know, we're not defined by a single contract, and it's the strength of the business overall that has driven Booz Allen. If I take you back to take you forward, we had a discussion last year about an Intel contract and what that was going to do, and we ended the year with extraordinary organic growth and that momentum continues to drive into the business because we have the ability to -- the rare occasion that we do lose a contract, the ability to retain the talent and reapply the talent to other things.

路易，這是一個很好的問題。我想我們兩個可能都會想對此發表評論。首先我要說的是，如您所知，我們不是由單一合約定義的，而是整體業務的實力推動了博思艾倫的發展。如果我帶你回顧並帶你前進，我們去年就英特爾合約以及它將做什麼進行了討論，我們以非凡的有機增長結束了這一年，並且這種勢頭繼續推動業務發展，因為我們有能力— —我們確實失去合約的罕見情況，保留人才並將人才重新應用於其他事情的能力。

Intel is a great launching point for that conversation because if you look at the growth that they're experiencing now and some of the things they're winning now, there are no -- they're in also part driven by the fact that we were able to take some extraordinary cyber talent and apply them to new things, and that has driven new growth. And that's really the way, as you know, we operate.

英特爾是這場對話的一個很好的起點，因為如果你看看他們現在正在經歷的增長以及他們現在贏得的一些東西，你會發現，他們在一定程度上也是由以下事實驅動的：我們能夠吸收一些非凡的網路人才並將其應用於新事物，這推動了新的成長。如您所知，這確實是我們的運作方式。

You look at our civil business, as I mentioned, we are seeing a little more price competition. We are seeing more procurement disruption than we've seen in a little while. I think part of that is driven by the fact that the domestic agenda is most affected when there's a change in administration and regardless how the election turns out, this is a change of administration. And so we're beginning to see that.

你看看我們的民用業務，正如我所提到的，我們看到了更多的價格競爭。我們看到的採購中斷比一段時間以來還要多。我認為部分原因在於，當政府更迭時，國內議程受到的影響最大，而無論選舉結果如何，這都是政府更迭。所以我們開始看到這一點。

Having said that, we feel really good about where we are. There's growth in some areas, accelerated growth in some areas. There's potentially some contract churn in other areas. When you put it all together, we think our civil business is going to continue to grow nicely, and we feel good about it.

話雖如此，我們對自己所處的位置感覺非常好。有的領域有成長，有的領域有加速成長。其他領域可能會出現一些合約流失的情況。當你把所有這些放在一起時，我們認為我們的民用業務將繼續良好成長，我們對此感覺良好。

And then ultimately, to go back to your original point about Advana and the totality of our defense business, as you see the defense business is really on fire in terms of capturing new demand. We are very proud of the work that we've done in support of DoD on Advana from its very inception as a relatively small program inside the controllership to what it's become, which is really the leading program to give war fighters or all levels, complete visibility into the data set for DoD is something that had never been done before. And I think if you asked our clients who deserve all the credit for doing this, they would recognize that Booz Allen has played a valuable role.

最後，回到您關於 Advana 和我們整個國防業務的最初觀點，正如您所看到的，國防業務在捕捉新需求方面確實非常火爆。我們為支持國防部在 Advana 上所做的工作感到非常自豪，從最初作為控制權內的一個相對較小的計劃，到現在發展成為真正為戰士或各個級別提供完整服務的領先計劃國防部數據集的可見性是以前從未做過的事情。我認為，如果您問我們的客戶誰應該為此獲得所有榮譽，他們會認識到博思艾倫發揮了寶貴的作用。

So that's a good place to be going into a competition. But more broadly than that, I mean if you look at our portfolio, in defense, you have things obviously that get recompeted. You have completely new work, some of which we won in this quarter in the Pacific. And then you have programs like SSMARTT. If I take you back, SSMARTT started at the Global Threat Mitigation Program many years ago.

所以這是參加比賽的好地方。但更廣泛地說，我的意思是，如果你看看我們的投資組合，在防守方面，你顯然有一些需要重新競爭的東西。你們有全新的作品，其中一些是我們在本季在太平洋地區贏得的。然後還有像 SSMARTT 這樣的程式。如果我回想一下，SSMARTT 多年前就開始了全球威脅緩解計畫。

It was actually the first $1 billion task order that Booz Allen ever on and it's now at $2.6 billion, and this is one of these hybrid contracts, where each recompete is both a continuation of work and an expansion of scope and an expansion of need as new technology deployed around the world at the speed that war fighters need becomes a greater need. So defense had a tremendous quarter. 17% for the quarter is pretty extraordinary for a business that is half of our portfolio, and we see potential for more.

這實際上是博思艾倫有史以來第一個10 億美元的任務訂單，現在已達到26 億美元，這是其中一份混合合同，其中每次重新競爭既是工作的延續，也是範圍的擴展和需求的擴展，因為以戰爭戰士所需的速度在世界各地部署新技術已成為更大的需求。所以防守有一個偉大的季度。對於占我們投資組合一半的業務來說，本季 17% 的成長率相當非同尋常，我們看到了更多的潛力。

We've been talking for the past few quarters about how we thought this year had slightly more recompete risk, but also significantly more opportunity. If you look at the totality of our proposal pipeline and you saw that play out. I think we've won seven jobs in the first half over $0.5 billion, let that sink in for a minute. And it's really a testament to how well we are positioned strategically to the resilience of our business model and the strength of our portfolio that even if we do lose a recompete, we can post the kind of numbers we pushed this quarter. So we feel really good about where we are.

在過去的幾個季度中，我們一直在討論我們認為今年的重新競爭風險稍高，但機會也顯著增加。如果您查看我們提案流程的整體，您會看到這一點。我認為上半年我們已經贏得了 7 個工作崗位，價值超過 5 億美元，讓我們先來理解這一點。這確實證明了我們對業務模式的彈性和投資組合的實力進行了戰略定位，即使我們確實輸掉了重新競爭，我們也可以發布本季推動的數字。所以我們對自己所處的位置感覺非常好。

As Horacio said, mix may be shifting a little bit in the near term, but there's real optimism and energy in the business. We're doing exactly the kind of work we want to be doing, and we feel good about the future.

正如奧拉西奧所說，短期內組合可能會發生一些變化，但業務中確實存在樂觀和活力。我們正在做我們想做的工作，我們對未來感覺良好。

And on that subject of scope expansions, I think at the recent Helix cybersecurity event, you talked about how an attach rate of how a very high percentage, I forget off the top of my head, of your overall contracts have a cybersecurity component. And then last year at the Helix, you talked about how a very high percentage of your overall contracts have an AI component now. And does this like lead for like more scope expansion such that like when you're renewing these contracts, there might be like a plus 10% or plus 20% just because you're adding 0 trust or language learning models to your existing contracts?

關於範圍擴展的主題，我認為在最近的 Helix 網路安全活動中，您談到了整個合約中很高比例的附加率（我忘記了）如何包含網路安全部分。去年在 Helix 上，您談到現在整個合約中很大一部分都包含人工智慧元件。這是否會導致更多的範圍擴展，例如當您續簽這些合約時，可能會因為您在現有合約中添加 0 個信任或語言學習模型而增加 10% 或 + 20%？

I think that's exactly right. Look, each contract is different, and they're all not going to have scope expansions and everything else. But overall, as I talked about at the cyber event, we believe that the notion of convergence of these technologies into missions in aggregate is here to stay. So this is not about delivering cyber in one place and delivering AI in another place and delivering digital in other place and delivering edge in a fourth place and space in a fifth place. It's how all of these things come together to affect the mission, where the answer is going to be, where the demand is going to be, and where Booz Allen is already playing.

我認為這是完全正確的。看，每個合約都是不同的，而且它們都不會有範圍擴展和其他一切。但總的來說，正如我在網路活動中談到的那樣，我們相信將這些技術整合到整體任務中的概念將繼續存在。因此，這並不是在一個地方提供網絡，在另一個地方提供人工智慧，在其他地方提供數字，在第四個地方提供邊緣，在第五個地方提供空間。這就是所有這些因素如何結合在一起影響任務、答案在哪裡、需求在哪裡以及博思艾倫已經在哪裡發揮作用。

Again, I go back to our operating model, the fact that we have a very collaborative culture, the fact that we have a common incentive structure, the fact that people are taught from an early day at Booz Allen to work together and integrate. It's a huge asset as all of these technologies come together. Last year, as you know, we talked about AI and cyber. This year, we talked about cyber and AI. All of these things are coming together, and we believe that we're uniquely positioned to capture that opportunity.

我再次回到我們的營運模式，我們擁有高度協作的文化，我們擁有共同的激勵結構，博思艾倫從一開始就教導人們共同工作和整合。當所有這些技術結合在一起時，這是一筆巨大的資產。如您所知，去年我們討論了人工智慧和網路。今年，我們談論了網路和人工智慧。所有這些事情都匯集在一起，我們相信我們具有獨特的優勢來抓住這個機會。

Tobey Sommer, Truist Securities.

托比·索默（Tobey Sommer），Truist 證券公司。

I was wondering if you could comment about the relatively strong increase in backlog and the slightly slower increase in funded backlog. What's the explanatory factor between the discrepancy between the two?

我想知道您是否可以評論一下積壓訂單相對強勁的增長以及資助積壓訂單增長稍慢的情況。兩者之間差異的解釋因素是什麼？

There's really nothing I take away from that. I mean, our contracts are slightly longer in duration, which means they're funded in different ways. A lot of the big jobs were winning, but I wouldn't read anything into it.

我真的沒有什麼可以從中得到的。我的意思是，我們的合約期限稍長，這意味著它們的融資方式不同。很多重要的工作都在獲勝，但我不會對此進行任何解讀。

And we're not seeing anything unusual in the funding environment at this point.

目前我們在融資環境中沒有看到任何異常情況。

Okay. And with respect to the conflicts in the Middle East and Europe, should they be resolved or come to some sort of conclusion? What, if any, impact do you think that might have on the company?

好的。至於中東和歐洲的衝突，是否應該解決或得出某種結論？您認為這可能會對公司產生什麼影響（如果有）？

I hope all of that happens. I think the world would be a better place, and Booz Allen would be a happier place if all of these conflicts were resolved. Just to dimensionalize it, we have about 800 people working across European theaters. So -- and some of that is certainly surge capacity over the immediate needs. But honestly, should those conflicts be resolved, and let's hope that they are the, call it, a couple of hundred people, give or take, that could be all of a sudden not needed for that have unique skills, we will be -- we would love to put them on some of these new work that we just won.

我希望這一切都會發生。我認為，如果所有這些衝突都得到解決，世界將會變得更加美好，博思艾倫也會變得更加幸福。為了具體化，我們在歐洲影院有大約 800 名員工。因此，其中一些肯定是超出當前需求的激增容量。但老實說，如果這些衝突得到解決，我們希望他們是，所謂的，幾百人，給予或接受，可能突然不需要那些擁有獨特技能的人，我們將會——我們很樂意讓他們參與我們剛剛獲獎的一些新作品。

And then, don't -- the recruiting environment and retention environment, I was just hoping you could comment on that. We're now several years into kind of easier recruiting and improvement in retention broadly. Do you see those trends continuing into calendar '25?

然後，不要——招聘環境和保留環境，我只是希望你能對此發表評論。我們現在已經花了幾年時間來簡化招募並廣泛提高保留率。您認為這些趨勢會持續到 25 年嗎？

In general, yes. I mean, I think part of it is the -- it is a, call it, less crazy environment, especially for tech talent now than it was three or four years ago. But importantly, every day, we see Booz Allen as more of a destination for unique talent. I think this combination of leading-edge technology and mission, when I talk to candidates to recent hires to very senior people that have an interest in Booz Allen, that has really resonated. And I think it's giving us not just numbers, but it's giving us a depth of talent we wouldn't have been able to capture.

一般來說，是的。我的意思是，我認為部分原因是──這是一個不那麼瘋狂的環境，特別是對於現在的科技人才來說，比三、四年前更是如此。但重要的是，我們每天都將博思艾倫視為獨特人才的目的地。我認為，當我與應徵者、最近招募的人員以及對博思艾倫感興趣的資深人士交談時，尖端技術和使命的結合確實引起了共鳴。我認為它不僅為我們提供了數字，還為我們提供了我們無法獲得的人才深度。

I'll share an anecdote just to give you a sense that we were talking about. We have a senior open position, and the first part of the search was done confidentially, meaning we couldn't -- our recruiters could not tell the market who they were recruiting from. And we saw some level of interest. And then when we were able to move to the phase where we could say that it was for Booz Allen, there was a huge spike in both the quantity and the quality of very senior level resumes that we got to see. And I think that's what's happened.

我將分享一個軼事，只是為了讓您了解我們正在談論的內容。我們有一個高級職位空缺，而搜尋的第一部分是秘密進行的，這意味著我們不能——我們的招聘人員無法告訴市場他們正在招聘誰。我們看到了一定程度的興趣。然後，當我們能夠進入可以說是博思艾倫的階段時，我們看到非常高級的簡歷的數量和質量都出現了巨大的飆升。我認為這就是發生的事情。

I think in addition to being a little bit better market, our brand is as strong as I've ever seen it, and I've been in and around this topic for over 20 years now.

我認為，除了市場稍微好一點之外，我們的品牌也像我所見過的一樣強大，而且我已經研究這個主題 20 多年了。

Historically, slightly more than 1/3 of our employees come through employee referrals. That number has actually ticked up. And as Horacio said, there is an energy and an excitement in Booz Allen that is as strong as I've ever seen it. People view their work as important, impactful, interesting. It means they're staying, and they're recommending us to their friends.

從歷史上看，我們略多於 1/3 的員工是透過員工推薦獲得的。這個數字實際上已經上升了。正如奧拉西奧所說，博思艾倫的活力和興奮是我所見過的最強烈的。人們認為他們的工作重要、有影響力、有趣。這意味著他們會留下來，並向他們的朋友推薦我們。

Just to give you one data point. We crossed -- we had one month, I think, this quarter, but it's not this quarter, last quarter, we had over 100,000 applicants to Booz Allen, and let that sink in for a minute. We're a place where people want to come because they want to grow their careers, they want to do work that's deeply technical and work that has real mission impact. So we don't foresee those trends changing.

只是為了給你一個數據點。我們交叉了——我想，這個季度我們有一個月的時間，但不是這個季度，而是上個季度，我們有超過 100,000 名博思艾倫申請者，讓我們花一分鐘來理解這一點。人們願意來我們這裡，因為他們想要發展自己的職業生涯，他們想要從事技術性很強的工作以及具有真正使命影響力的工作。因此，我們預期這些趨勢不會改變。

David Strauss, Barclays.

大衛‧史特勞斯，巴克萊銀行。

This is actually Josh Korn, on for David. So last quarter, you talked about margin impact from hiring and contract time and things like that. And I think you suggested things would progress sort of a little more slowly throughout the year off of Q1. So I just wanted to ask about how those factors trended in the second quarter and how they improved contributing to the big margin increase this time?

這其實是喬許·科恩（Josh Korn），替大衛發言。上個季度，您談到了招募和合約時間等因素對利潤率的影響。我認為您建議從第一季開始，全年的進展會稍微慢一些。所以我只是想問一下這些因素在第二季的趨勢如何，以及它們是如何改善的，從而促成​​了這次利潤率的大幅成長？

Yeah, you saw the results. I think it snapped back in some ways faster than we thought. So good operating quarter. Cost discipline took hold and a lot of the one-time or timing-related items we highlighted in Q1 actually reverted in some cases quicker than we thought. So I'd really think about Q1 and Q2 as a whole.

是的，你看到了結果。我認為它在某些方面的恢復速度比我們想像的要快。營運季度表現良好。成本紀律得到了落實，我們在第一季強調的許多一次性或與時間相關的項目實際上在某些情況下恢復得比我們想像的要快。所以我真的會把第一季和第二季當作一個整體來考慮。

For the first half, we delivered margins of 10.9%. We're guiding to 11% for the year overall. We're right where we want to be after six months. But I'll remind you again, we do focus on EBITDA dollars. We are incredibly proud of the fact that we ended last year at $1.175 billion in adjusted EBITDA, we're guiding to $1.3 billion to $1.33 billion this year. That's a great year.

上半年，我們的利潤率為 10.9%。我們預計全年成長率為 11%。六個月後我們就達到了我們想要達到的目標。但我會再次提醒您，我們確實關注 EBITDA 美元。去年我們的調整後 EBITDA 為 11.75 億美元，我們對此感到非常自豪，今年我們的目標是 13 億至 13.3 億美元。那是美好的一年。

The last question, one moment, please, comes from the line of Mariana Perez Mora with Bank of America.

最後一個問題，請稍等，來自美國銀行的瑪麗安娜·佩雷斯·莫拉 (Mariana Perez Mora)。

So my question is going to be about like defense and Intel and the transition. So you mentioned in the prepared remarks that in the intelligence business, it's more like technology that analyst solutions or missions right now. I was surprised at USA to learn that you're going to open your third engineering facility, focused on rapid prototyping for the Tactical Assault Kit, the TAK solutions that you acquired with PAR. You have been really successful navigating this balance between being the agnostic integrator of technologies, but also jumping into technology solutions where the analysts or the engineer and the technology were inseparable to actually have an outcome on time.

所以我的問題是關於國防、英特爾和轉型。所以你在準備好的發言中提到，在情報業務中，現在它更像是分析解決方案或任務的技術。我很驚訝美國得知你們將開設第三個工程設施，專注於戰術攻擊套件的快速原型設計，這是你們透過 PAR 獲得的 TAK 解決方案。您確實成功地在作為技術的不可知整合商和跳入技術解決方案之間取得了平衡，在技術解決方案中，分析師或工程師與技術密不可分，以便真正按時獲得結果。

How are you thinking about the hardware? How are you thinking about this like software-driven hardware technologies and solutions in the future? And how do you think Booz Allen could play a role and add value in that regard?

您如何看待硬體？您如何看待未來像軟體驅動的硬體技術和解決方案？您認為博思艾倫如何在這方面發揮作用並增加價值？

You know that's a great question. So for context, I think what we really did is we took work -- prototyping work that was being done across our defense portfolio and integrated it primarily into three facilities in order to be able to gain scale and expertise and accelerate all of that. But this is not entirely new. It's just an accelerating area of focus. I think what we're seeing, especially when it comes to our defense business, is that so much of what's needed is going to happen at the edge.

你知道這是一個很好的問題。因此，就背景而言，我認為我們真正所做的是我們開展工作——在我們的國防產品組合中進行原型設計工作，並將其主要整合到三個設施中，以便能夠獲得規模和專業知識並加速這一切。但這並不是全新的。這只是一個加速關注的領域。我認為我們所看到的，尤其是在我們的國防業務方面，所需的許多東西都會發生在邊緣。

It needs to happen in environments, where communications are degraded or nonexistent. It needs to happen in a way that can respond to the unique needs of a war fighter, where -- which may be something that needs to get carried on a belt, or it needs to be able to withstand the acceleration of a fighter jet. And so we think about ourselves as the people that can really integrate across the entirety of that solution. We don't expect we're going to be making a lot of these things. We expect that we can partner, we expect that we can bring to all use technologies to play much faster.

它需要在通訊能力下降或不存在的環境中進行。它需要以一種能夠滿足戰鬥機獨特需求的方式發生，這可能是需要掛在皮帶上的東西，或者它需要能夠承受戰鬥機的加速。因此，我們認為自己是能夠真正整合整個解決方案的人。我們預計我們不會製造很多這樣的東西。我們期望我們能夠合作，我們期望我們能夠為所有人帶來更快的技術使用。

We can adapt things that are already out there, perhaps for commercial, even consumer use into these missions. And we see Booz Allen as the people who can do it most reliably, fastest and ultimately, who can scale this the fastest. We have work ongoing already that integrates things that are happening on the edge on technology stacks that we are building from scratch with some of our partners to things that happen in the cloud, and those two things need to communicate when they can and operate asynchronously when they won't be able to, to things we're doing in space.

我們可以將現有的東西（也許是用於商業甚至消費者用途）改編成這些任務。我們認為博思艾倫是能夠最可靠、最快、最終能夠以最快的速度擴展這項業務的人。我們已經在進行工作，將我們與一些合作夥伴從頭開始構建的技術堆疊邊緣發生的事情集成到雲中發生的事情，這兩件事需要在可以時進行通信，並在可以時異步運行。做到我們在太空中所做的事情。

So this is an area, and it all fits into this notion that we believe our clients ultimately will be moving to a more outcome-based view. We believe we have unique intellectual property and intellectual capital that will give us both the opportunity to play there, but also the opportunity to increase our EBITDA dollar acceleration to increase our margins and so forth over the medium to longer term. And we're very excited about everything that's happening there. And it's all really happening again against this modality that says, what are the missions of national priority, what are the new technologies in their totality that need to be brought in, and how can we do that at scale and fast?

所以這是一個領域，這一切都符合我們相信我們的客戶最終將轉向更基於結果的觀點的理念。我們相信，我們擁有獨特的智慧財產權和智力資本，這將使我們有機會在那裡發揮作用，同時也有機會增加我們的 EBITDA 美元加速，以提高我們的利潤率等。我們對那裡發生的一切感到非常興奮。這一切真的再次發生在這種模式下，即國家優先任務是什麼，需要引進哪些新技術，以及我們如何才能大規模、快速地做到這一點？

Great. And then my second question is around the civilian clients. Despite this near-term turbulence, how do you see the market going forward? And where do you see most of the demand? Because I could see a case for like protecting critical infrastructure, like from cybersecurity and things like that, like getting digitalization to actually be more cost-effective in a budget pressure environment, like where do you see most of the opportunities going forward?

偉大的。我的第二個問題是關於平民客戶的。儘管近期出現動盪，您如何看待市場未來的發展？您在哪裡看到大部分需求？因為我可以看到保護關鍵基礎設施（例如網路安全等）的案例，例如在預算壓力環境中使數位化實際上更具成本效益，例如您認為未來的大部分機會在哪裡？

If I had to summarize our presence and our growth in the civilian market, I think the word would be data-enabled missions, where are all the places we're bringing data in a different way will accelerate mission success. Public health is a clear area, and I was just in Atlanta and at the CDC understanding from our clients what they need and working with them on it. A lot of our work at the VA in terms of modernizing and accelerating so that our veterans get better care and faster, our work in law enforcement, which connects deeply to our work in national security and across the board and as you say, climate, the defense of critical infrastructure and so forth.

如果我必須總結我們在民用市場的存在和成長，我認為這個詞將是數據支援的任務，我們以不同方式引入數據的所有地方都將加速任務的成功。公共衛生是一個明確的領域，我剛剛在亞特蘭大和疾病預防控制中心，從我們的客戶那裡了解他們的需求，並與他們合作。我們在退伍軍人事務部的許多工作都是在現代化和加速方面進行的，以便我們的退伍軍人更快地得到更好的護理，我們在執法方面的工作，這與我們在國家安全和全面方面的工作密切相關，正如你所說，氣候，關鍵基礎設施的防禦等等。

The common thread for us is, in any place we're bringing data to the mission fastest, creates mission leverage. That's where Booz Allen is excelling. That's where Booz Allen is playing our best role. And that's where I think the real growth is going to be in the medium term.

我們的共同點是，在任何地方，我們都能以最快的速度將資料帶到任務中，從而創造任務槓桿。這就是博思艾倫的擅長之處。這就是博思艾倫發揮最佳作用的地方。我認為這就是中期內真正的成長所在。

And I think this is a pretty robust set of opportunities that will respond to the next administration's priorities once we understand what those are.

我認為這是一組相當強大的機會，一旦我們了解了下一屆政府的優先事項是什麼，它們將做出回應。

And this concludes our Q&A session, and I will turn the call back to Horacio Rozanski for his concluding comments.

我們的問答環節到此結束，我將把電話轉回給 Horacio Rozanski，聽取他的結論性意見。

Thank you, Carmen, and thank you all for your questions and for being with us this morning.

謝謝卡門，謝謝大家提出的問題以及今天早上和我們在一起。

At the start of the call, I touched on the recent hurricanes which have impacted millions of people, and that includes many of our colleagues. So before we conclude today, if you'll allow me, I'd like to take a moment to recognize the incredible people of Booz Allen and how they've come together in the wake of these storms. Our crisis management teams worked literally around the clock to account for everybody to provide assistance to thousands of employees that were in the path of these two storms as they got across the Southeast. Our client teams answered the call and worked on providing information that ultimately became life-saving information and support to first responders.

在電話會議開始時，我談到了最近的颶風，這些颶風影響了數百萬人，其中包括我們的許多同事。因此，在我們今天結束之前，如果您允許的話，我想花一點時間來認識博思艾倫的傑出員工，以及他們如何在這些風暴之後走到一起。我們的危機管理團隊幾乎晝夜不停地工作，負責為每個人提供幫助，為這兩場風暴穿越東南部時遇到的數千名員工提供幫助。我們的客戶團隊回應了電話，並致力於提供最終成為急救人員的救生資訊和支援的資訊。

And then volunteers in that area and far and wide across Booz Allen gave their time, donated money, donated things, and stood up to help all affected. And that's really the spirit of Booz Allen. It's awe-inspiring to watch my colleagues rise up at a time like this. And so I just want to finish by thanking everybody at Booz Allen for always being there for one another and for once again showing the world who we are.

然後，該地區以及博思艾倫各地的志工奉獻出自己的時間、捐款、捐贈物品，並站起來幫助所有受影響的人。這確實是博思艾倫的精神。看到我的同事在這樣的時刻挺身而出，真是令人敬畏。最後，我想感謝博思艾倫的每個人始終相互支持，並再次向世界展示我們是誰。

And with that, thank you again for being on the call, and have a great day.

在此，再次感謝您接聽電話，祝您有美好的一天。

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. This concludes our program, and you may now disconnect.

謝謝你們，女士們、先生們。我們的程式到此結束，您現在可以斷開連線。