Chegg Inc (CHGG) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to Chegg, Inc., second-quarter 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

您好，歡迎參加 Chegg, Inc. 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）謹此提醒，本次會議正在錄製中。

It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Tracey Ford. Thank you. You may begin.

現在我很高興向大家介紹你們的主持人崔西·福特。謝謝。你可以開始了。

Good afternoon. Thank you for joining Chegg's second-quarter 2024 conference call. On today's call are Nathan Schultz, President and CEO; and David Longo, Chief Financial Officer.

午安.感謝您參加 Chegg 2024 年第二季電話會議。出席今天電話會議的有總裁兼執行長內森舒爾茨 (Nathan Schultz)；財務長戴維·隆戈(David Longo)。

A copy of our earnings press release, along with our investor presentation, is available on our Investor Relations website, investor.chegg.com. A replay of this call will also be available on our website. We routinely post information on our website and intend to make important announcements on our media center website at chegg.com/mediacenter. We encourage you to make use of these resources. .

我們的收益新聞稿以及投資者簡報的副本可在我們的投資者關係網站 Investor.chegg.com 上取得。我們的網站上也將提供本次電話會議的重播。我們定期在我們的網站上發布訊息，並打算在我們的媒體中心網站 chegg.com/mediacenter 上發布重要公告。我們鼓勵您利用這些資源。 。

Before we begin, I would like to point out that during the course of this call, we will make forward-looking statements regarding future events, including the future financial and operating performance of the company. These forward-looking statements are subject to material risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements.

在開始之前，我想指出，在本次電話會議期間，我們將對未來事件做出前瞻性陳述，包括公司未來的財務和經營業績。這些前瞻性陳述存在重大風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述中的結果有重大差異。

We caution you to consider the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. In particular, we refer you to the cautionary language included in today's earnings release and the risk factors described in Chegg's annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 20, 2024, as well as our other filings with the SEC.

我們提醒您考慮可能導致實際結果與前瞻性聲明中的結果有重大差異的重要因素。我們特別建議您參閱今天的收益發布中包含的警示性語言以及Chegg 於2024 年2 月20 日向美國證券交易委員會提交的10-K 表格年度報告中所述的風險因素，以及我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的其他文件。

Any forward-looking statements that we make today are based on assumptions that we believe to be reasonable as of this date. We undertake no obligation to update these statements as a result of new information or future events.

我們今天所做的任何前瞻性陳述都是基於我們認為截至目前為止合理的假設。我們不承擔因新資訊或未來事件而更新這些聲明的義務。

During this call, we will present both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures. Our GAAP results and GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliations can be found on our earnings press release and the investor slide deck found on our IR website, investor.chegg.com. We also recommend you review the investor data sheet, which is also posted on our IR website.

在本次電話會議中，我們將介紹 GAAP 和非 GAAP 財務指標。我們的 GAAP 業績以及 GAAP 與非 GAAP 調整表可在我們的收益新聞稿和投資者關係網站 Investor.chegg.com 上找到的投資者幻燈片中找到。我們也建議您查看投資者資料表，該資料表也發佈在我們的投資者關係網站上。

Now I will turn the call over to Nathan.

現在我將把電話轉給內森。

Thank you, Tracy. Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for joining Chegg's second-quarter earnings call. I'm so very proud of how Chegg shows up for students and our team's endeavor to build an unparalleled learning platform.

謝謝你，特雷西。大家下午好，感謝您參加 Chegg 第二季財報電話會議。我對 Chegg 在學生面前的表現以及我們團隊為建立無與倫比的學習平台所做的努力感到非常自豪。

Since assuming the CEO role 65 days ago, I'd spearheaded a significant restructuring effort to create a leaner, more efficient organization, which allows us to move faster, smarter, and make investments for the long term. In 2025, our restructuring program will generate non-GAAP expense savings in the range of $40 million to $50 million and has allowed us to remain committed to our goals of 30%-plus adjusted EBITDA margin and at least $100 million in free cash flow.

自從 65 天前就任執行長以來，我帶頭進行了重大重組工作，以創建一個更精簡、更有效率的組織，使我們能夠更快、更明智地行動並進行長期投資。到 2025 年，我們的重組計畫將節省 4,000 萬至 5,000 萬美元的非 GAAP 費用，並使我們能夠繼續致力於實現 30% 以上的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率和至少 1 億美元自由現金流的目標。

Additionally, we have outlined a new product vision to evolve Chegg from a solutions-based study platform to one that supports the whole student with 360 degrees of individualized academic and functional support. Our talented teams are hard at work, building the products and experiences that bring our new vision to life. However, let's start with Q2.

此外，我們還概述了一個新的產品願景，將 Chegg 從一個基於解決方案的學習平台發展成為一個為整個學生提供 360 度個人化學術和功能支援的平台。我們才華橫溢的團隊正在努力工作，打造產品和體驗，將我們的新願景變為現實。不過，讓我們從第二季開始。

For Q2, we exceeded our guidance delivering $146.8 million in revenue and $44.1 million in adjusted EBITDA. We continue to integrate AI into Chegg Study, completing several foundational programs, most importantly, the complete rollout of conversational instructional capability and automated solutions, all in time for the upcoming back-to-school season.

第二季度，我們超出了預期，實現了 1.468 億美元的收入和 4,410 萬美元的調整後 EBITDA。我們繼續將人工智慧整合到 Chegg Study 中，完成了幾個基礎項目，最重要的是，全面推出了會話教學能力和自動化解決方案，所有這些都及時趕上了即將到來的返校季節。

As a result, we are seeing positive reception as demonstrated by an increase in student engagement. I'd like to specifically call out two exciting trends. First, 70% of subscribers are engaging in conversational instruction. Second, students are asking more questions. The number of questions asked by students increased 74% year over year versus Q2 2023. And in H1 '24 alone students asked a whopping 16.2 million questions, which is 109% year-over-year increase.

因此，我們看到了正面的反響，學生參與度的提高就證明了這一點。我想特別指出兩個令人興奮的趨勢。首先，70% 的訂閱者正在參與對話教學。其次，學生提出的問題增加。與 2023 年第二季相比，學生提出的問題數量年增了 74%。

While pleased with the product advancements we've implemented in Q2, we are only getting started. Our sites are fixed on innovations that leverage both our key differentiators in the generational technology shift in which we find ourselves. Speaking of which, I would like to spend a few minutes highlighting three key differentiators.

雖然我們對第二季實施的產品進步感到滿意，但我們才剛開始。我們的網站專注於創新，利用我們在代際技術轉變中的關鍵差異化優勢。說到這裡，我想花幾分鐘強調三個關鍵的差異化因素。

First, we are obsessed with studying students. With more than a decade of insights into students' needs, motivations, and behaviors, we consistently work to evolve and align our services to the modern student experience. We applied deep learning science from an in-house team to create a verticalized user experience to reflect how students learn best.

首先，我們沉迷於學習學生。十多年來，我們對學生的需求、動機和行為有了深入的了解，我們不斷努力發展我們的服務，使其適應現代學生的體驗。我們應用內部團隊的深度學習科學來創建垂直化的使用者體驗，以反映學生如何最好地學習。

For example, we provide step-by-step solutions, jargon-free explanations, and simplified concepts to make learning accessible. This deep understanding of students called from millions of learning interactions, drives our product innovation.

例如，我們提供逐步解決方案、易於理解的解釋和簡化的概念，使學習變得容易。這種來自數百萬次學習互動的對學生的深刻理解推動了我們的產品創新。

Second, we have been built from the bottom up to deliver high-quality, accurate content at scale. Students care deeply about accuracy and quality of instruction. In our study of more than 11,000 students globally, 47% of those who use Generative AI for university studies say, receiving incorrect information was a top concern.

其次，我們是自下而上建構的，旨在大規模提供高品質、準確的內容。學生非常關心教學的準確性和品質。在我們對全球 11,000 多名學生進行的研究中，使用生成式 AI 進行大學學習的學生中有 47% 表示，收到不正確的資訊是最擔心的問題。

This lack of trust has led 67% of students to spend additional time verifying the information they receive from AI tools. This is inefficient, and we can do better. To that end, Chegg will launch this fall, a student-facing satisfaction guarantee aligned to the quality and accuracy of our content to better support student success and differentiated Chegg.

這種信任的缺乏導致 67% 的學生花費額外的時間來驗證從人工智慧工具收到的資訊。這是低效率的，我們可以做得更好。為此，Chegg 將在今年秋季推出學生的滿意度保證，與我們內容的品質和準確性相一致，以更好地支持學生的成功和差異化的 Chegg。

Third and finally, Chegg's brand awareness remains high with 75% of US college students having heard of Chegg. We plan to build on our strong foundation in Q3, launching our small steps, big wins marketing campaign this back-to-school season. This will extend our reach into channels where students are congregating such as TikTok, Instagram, and on-campus to increase our top of funnel.

第三，也是最後一點，Chegg 的品牌知名度仍然很高，75% 的美國大學生聽說過 Chegg。我們計劃在第三季打下堅實的基礎，在返校季推出小步驟、大勝利的行銷活動。這將把我們的觸角擴展到學生聚集的管道，如 TikTok、Instagram 和校園內，以增加我們的漏斗頂部。

Additionally, we will start to test services delivered on Discord and for Chrome extensions with the goal of making sure Chegg is everywhere our current and future students are. The differentiators we have built over the last decade have positioned us for success as we execute our product road map and drive headfirst into the generational technology shift ushered in by AI. Our mission is to build from our foundation to support student outcomes, not by delivering AI education but rather education enhanced by AI.

此外，我們將開始測試 Discord 和 Chrome 擴充功能上提供的服務，目標是確保 Chegg 無處不在，我們現在和未來的學生都在。我們在過去十年中建立的差異化因素使我們在執行產品路線圖並積極推動人工智慧帶來的新一代技術變革時取得了成功。我們的使命是立基於支持學生的成果，不是透過提供人工智慧教育，而是透過人工智慧增強教育。

With that in mind, I would like to take you through some examples of the AI architecture we have built. First, we have created proprietary technology that allows Chegg to deeply understand students' questions. When a question is asked, we create a full picture why they asked it, at what depth the answer should be given, and most exciting, how can we use this question to develop a series of next best actions that creates an individualized learning pathway driving student engagement and retention.

考慮到這一點，我想向您介紹我們所建立的人工智慧架構的一些範例。首先，我們創建了專有技術，使 Chegg 能夠深入理解學生的問題。當提出問題時，我們會全面了解他們為什麼問這個問題、應該給出什麼深度的答案，以及最令人興奮的是，我們如何利用這個問題來製定一系列下一個最佳行動，從而創建個性化的學習路徑來驅動學生的參與度和保留率。

Second, our evolving architecture takes an innovative multisource approach levering foundational and proprietary language models, our industry-leading symbolic math engine, our deep catalog of learning content, and our subject matter experts to deliver the best learning solutions possible.

其次，我們不斷發展的架構採用創新的多源方法，利用基礎和專有語言模型、行業領先的符號數學引擎、深度學習內容目錄以及我們的主題專家來提供最佳的學習解決方案。

We fully realized our groundbreaking vision for integrating AI with our proprietary content and computational models, we have built a sophisticated source agnostic orchestrator that intelligently selects the best approach to assist each student. You can think of the orchestrator as an aircraft controller. Using this approach, accuracy and quality remain paramount.

我們完全實現了將人工智慧與我們的專有內容和計算模型相結合的突破性願景，我們建立了一個複雜的源不可知協調器，可以智慧地選擇最佳方法來幫助每個學生。您可以將協調器視為飛機控制器。使用這種方法，準確性和品質仍然至關重要。

As such, we have developed a proprietary quality rubric that assesses all possible content sources and language models. We believe this enables Chegg to take advantage of any future innovations that foundational models will inevitably create while maintaining the quality that has built our brand.

因此，我們開發了一個專有的品質標準來評估所有可能的內容來源和語言模型。我們相信，這使 Chegg 能夠利用基礎模型不可避免地創造的任何未來創新，同時保持建立我們品牌的品質。

As always, we have developed our innovative approach to servicing students with scale and cost in mind. Today, we produce solutions at a 75% reduction per unit versus human creation alone. The bottom line is we are now creating more content at higher quality at lower cost. And as you know, content is the primary driver of our acquisition flywheel.

一如既往，我們開發了創新的方法來為學生提供服務，同時考慮到規模和成本。如今，與僅靠人工創造相比，我們生產的解決方案每單位減少了 75%。最重要的是，我們現在正在以更低的成本創建更多更高品質的內容。如您所知，內容是我們收購飛輪的主要動力。

Before I turn it over to David, I want to briefly talk about what you can expect regarding product innovation in Q3 as well as an exciting partnership as we get set for a back-to-school rush.

在將其交給 David 之前，我想簡要談談您對第三季產品創新的期望，以及我們為返校高峰做好準備時令人興奮的合作夥伴關係。

On the global product side, we are well underway in implementing our iterative approach to product development. This fall, we will be testing a variety of innovations. As an example, we have developed a feature internally referred to a starting point, which is meant to address the common issue of students simply not knowing where to start, whether they're standing for a midterm or running an important paper. This introduces a whole new way for students to leverage Chegg on the learning journey.

在全球產品方面，我們正在順利實施產品開發的迭代方法。今年秋天，我們將測試各種創新。例如，我們開發了一個內部參考起點的功能，旨在解決學生根本不知道從哪裡開始的常見問題，無論他們是在參加期中考試還是正在撰寫重要論文。這為學生在學習之旅中利用 Chegg 提供了一種全新的方式。

In addition to starting point, we've developed two new applications, one that keeps students on track and another that organizes students notes and turns them into the study tools. As we get more products into student hands through inter development, you are beginning to see the evolution of Chegg from a Q&A platform to one that delivers 360 degrees of support.

除了起點之外，我們還開發了兩種新的應用程序，一種可以讓學生保持在正軌上，另一種可以組織學生筆記並將其轉變為學習工具。隨著我們透過互動開發將更多產品交到學生手中，您將開始看到 Chegg 從問答平台演變為提供 360 度支援的平台。

On the international front, we will be launching a fully localized experience in Mexico by the end of September. Our end-to-end localization strategy adapts Chegg Study to meet the cultural, linguistic, and user experience requirements of key international markets. As our first fully localized market, Mexico will serve as the playbook for future localization efforts. We remain excited about the growth opportunities that international expansion provides.

在國際方面，我們將於九月底在墨西哥推出完全在地化的體驗。我們的端到端在地化策略採用 Chegg Study 來滿足主要國際市場的文化、語言和使用者體驗要求。作為我們第一個完全在地化的市場，墨西哥將成為未來在地化工作的劇本。我們對國際擴張提供的成長機會仍然感到興奮。

Finally, I'm excited to announce that we're expanding our Chegg Perks program through a partnership with Max, one of the leading global streaming services. Max delivers exclusive original series and blockbuster movies as well as a library of beloved TV that our US subscribers will now be able to access with ads. Max joined our other perks partners, including Tinder, DoorDash, Comm, and others to enrich the value of a Chegg subscription.

最後，我很高興地宣布，我們將透過與全球領先的串流媒體服務之一 Max 合作來擴展我們的 Chegg Perks 計劃。 Max 提供獨家原創劇集和大片以及深受喜愛的電視節目庫，我們的美國訂戶現在可以透過廣告存取這些電視節目。 Max 加入了其他我們的福利合作夥伴，包括 Tinder、DoorDash、Comm 等，以豐富 Chegg 訂閱的價值。

In closing, we continue to execute the plan that we believe will return our company to growth. The way back will take time and will be accomplished through steady execution of our vision to serve the whole student, thoughtful implementation of our unique AI strategy, and building off our durable differentiators, which include a deep knowledge of students, a content foundation built for quality and scale and a brand that students know and love.

最後，我們繼續執行我們相信將使我們公司恢復成長的計劃。回歸之路需要時間，並將透過穩步執行我們為全體學生服務的願景、深思熟慮地實施我們獨特的人工智慧策略以及建立我們持久的差異化優勢來實現，其中包括對學生的深入了解、為學生構建的內容基礎。

With that, I will turn it over to David.

這樣，我就把它交給大衛了。

Thank you, Nathan. Today, I will present our financial performance for the second quarter of 2024 and our outlook for Q3.

謝謝你，內森。今天，我將介紹我們 2024 年第二季的財務表現以及第三季的前景。

Q2 was a solid quarter. We remain focused on delivering our new AI-driven experiences to students around the world, made progress on key metrics, which we believe will support both revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth over time and continued to execute prudent expense management to maintain strong profitability. We exceeded our Q2 guidance on both revenue and adjusted EBITDA and our balance sheet remains healthy.

第二季是一個穩定的季度。我們仍然專注於為世界各地的學生提供新的人工智慧驅動體驗，在關鍵指標上取得進展，我們相信這將支持收入和調整後EBITDA 隨著時間的推移增長，並繼續執行審慎的費用管理以保持強勁的獲利能力。我們的收入和調整後 EBITDA 均超出了第二季度的指導，並且我們的資產負債表保持健康。

Before I jump into the results of the quarter, in the shareholder letter related to the restructuring, we committed to sharing key metrics that would assist investors to understand and model our company. Our earnings presentation on our Investor Relations website includes these key metrics for Q2. These are the metrics we review to understand the trends in health of our business.

在我進入本季度業績之前，在與重組相關的股東信中，我們承諾分享有助於投資者了解和塑造我們公司的關鍵指標。我們在投資者關係網站上的收益演示包括第二季度的這些關鍵指標。這些是我們審查的指標，以了解我們業務的健康趨勢。

Moving on to our second quarter performance. We had 4.4 million subscribers in the quarter with 25% coming from international. Total revenue was $163 million, down 11% year over year, including subscription services revenue of $147 million. Subscription services ARPU was down 3% year over year, which was primarily driven by the international promotional pricing we introduced last year to bolster conversion and retention. Overall, monthly retention for Chegg Study and Study Pack remained strong and was up 23 basis points year over year. Skills and other revenue was $16 million, a decrease of 4% year over year.

繼續我們第二季的業績。本季我們有 440 萬訂戶，其中 25% 來自國際。總收入為 1.63 億美元，年減 11%，其中訂閱服務收入為 1.47 億美元。訂閱服務 ARPU 年減 3%，這主要是由於我們去年為提高轉換率和留存率而推出的國際促銷定價。整體而言，Chegg Study 和 Study Pack 的月度留存率依然強勁，較去年同期成長 23 個基點。技能和其他收入為 1600 萬美元，年減 4%。

Second quarter adjusted EBITDA of $44 million represented a margin of 27%. This is above our guidance due to the better-than-anticipated revenue as well as ongoing expense management to preserve profitability and cash flows as we navigate the path back to growth. As planned, the restructuring had a minimal impact on our Q2 adjusted EBITDA and the full financial savings will not be realized until 2025. We had a few notable GAAP items this quarter, specifically an impairment charge and a large discrete item in our income tax provision.

第二季調整後 EBITDA 為 4,400 萬美元，利潤率為 27%。這高於我們的指導，因為收入好於預期，並且在我們恢復成長的過程中為保持獲利能力和現金流而進行持續的費用管理。按照計劃，重組對我們第二季調整後EBITDA 的影響很小，並且要到2025 年才能實現全部財務節省。一個大型離散專案。

As a result of continued industry pressure and declines in our market capitalization and as required by accounting rules, we completed an impairment test on our goodwill, intangible assets, and property and equipment. The test resulted in $481.5 million of non-cash impairment charges that were excluded from our Q2 adjusted EBITDA.

由於持續的行業壓力和市值下降，根據會計準則的要求，我們對商譽、無形資產、財產和設備完成了減損測試。該測試產生了 4.815 億美元的非現金減損費用，這些費用被排除在我們第二季度調整後 EBITDA 之外。

In addition, the goodwill impairment impacted our Q2 income tax provision as we are now in three years of cumulative pretax losses in the US. This triggered the necessity of a $141.6 million non-cash valuation allowance recorded on all US federal and state deferred tax assets, which is included in the Q2 income tax provision.

此外，商譽減損影響了我們第二季的所得稅撥備，因為我們目前在美國已連續三年出現累積稅前虧損。這引發了對所有美國聯邦和州遞延稅資產記錄 1.416 億美元非現金估值備抵的必要性，該備抵已包含在第二季度所得稅準備金中。

Free cash flow was negative $3.6 million in the second quarter, which was driven by severance payments related to our restructuring and an increase in net working capital largely related to the timing of accounts payable items. Capital expenditures were $17.8 million in the quarter, of which $13 million were content costs. Content costs were down 7% year over year even with an increase of 74% in the number of questions asked.

第二季自由現金流為負 360 萬美元，這是由於與我們的重組相關的遣散費以及主要與應付帳款項目時間相關的淨營運資本的增加所致。本季資本支出為 1,780 萬美元，其中 1,300 萬美元為內容成本。儘管提出的問題數量增加了 74%，但內容成本卻比去年同期下降了 7%。

Looking at the balance sheet. We ended the quarter with cash and investments of $605 million and a net cash balance of $4.5 million. With respect to Q3 guidance, we expect total revenue between $133 million and $135 million, with subscription services revenue between $116 million and $118 million, gross margin to be in the range of 67% to 68%, and adjusted EBITDA between $19 million and $21 million.

看資產負債表。本季結束時，我們的現金和投資為 6.05 億美元，淨現金餘額為 450 萬美元。關於第三季的指導，我們預計總營收在1.33 億美元至1.35 億美元之間，訂閱服務收入在1.16 億美元至1.18 億美元之間，毛利率在67% 至68% 之間，調整後EBITDA在1900 萬美元至21 美元之間百萬。

In closing, while these numbers are not where we want them to be, like many companies in the ed tech space, we are dealing with the challenges of the changing landscape. As Nathan detailed earlier, we are working to implement the vision to get us back to growth, but it will take some time before we see the benefits. I'm committed to delivering our financial goals. We believe there is a significant opportunity ahead for Chegg, and I am confident in our team and our ability to succeed.

最後，雖然這些數字沒有達到我們想要的水平，但像教育科技領域的許多公司一樣，我們正在應對不斷變化的環境所帶來的挑戰。正如內森（Nathan）之前詳細介紹的那樣，我們正在努力實現使我們恢復成長的願景，但我們需要一些時間才能看到好處。我致力於實現我們的財務目標。我們相信 Chegg 面臨著巨大的機遇，我對我們的團隊和成功的能力充滿信心。

With that, I will turn the call over to the operator for your questions.

這樣，我會將電話轉給接線員詢問您的問題。

Thank you. We will now be conducting a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝。我們現在將進行問答環節。 （操作員說明）

Jeffrey Silber, BMO Capital Markets.

Jeffrey Silber，BMO 資本市場。

This is Ryan on for Jeff. Just a question. I was wondering how you're feeling about the fall enrollment cycle as we progress through the summer. And then what initiatives poise Chegg to recapture some of that student base?

這是瑞恩替傑夫發言。只是一個問題。我想知道隨著夏季的到來，您對秋季入學週期有何感想。那麼，哪些措施能讓 Chegg 重新奪回部分學生群體呢？

Thanks, Ryan, it's Nathan. Thanks for the question. Obviously, like everyone else, we use a number of external resources to look at the fall cycle. The unfortunate thing is a lot of that data is kind of an arrear and we're going to need September and October to kind of roll through for us to really understand how the data comes out.

謝謝，瑞安，我是內森。謝謝你的提問。顯然，和其他人一樣，我們使用許多外部資源來研究秋季週期。不幸的是，許多數據都是拖欠的，我們需要在 9 月和 10 月進行滾動，才能真正了解數據是如何產生的。

Expectations overall, as I look at enrollment on a broader scale or the kind of, I think, about out through '27 and '28, enrollment is pretty much flat. So when I think about enrollment and change opportunity is not, are we putting more freshmen into the cycle, but really how do we extend the reach of our brands, of our value prop into the current students that are in the cycle, right?

總體期望，當我從更廣泛的範圍來看入學情況時，或者我認為，在 27 年和 28 年期間，入學情況幾乎持平。因此，當我考慮入學和改變機會時，我們是否會將更多的新生納入這個週期，但實際上我們如何將我們的品牌和價值支柱的影響力擴展到當前週期中的學生，對嗎？

So we have a lot of headroom domestically, a lot of headroom internationally, and that's where we're really focused on how do we get those people to recognize us. So if you think about the marketing campaign that I talked about in our prepared remarks, probably the small steps and big wins, and getting ourselves onto the platforms, where students are congregating, we're going to have TikTok, Instagram, on-campus or getting Chegg to be on platforms for students could use as directly like Discord.

因此，我們在國內有很大的發展空間，在國際上也有很大的發展空間，這就是我們真正關注如何讓這些人認可我們的地方。因此，如果你想想我在準備好的發言中談到的行銷活動，可能是小步驟和大勝利，並讓我們自己進入學生聚集的平台，我們將在校園內推出 TikTok、Instagram或讓Chegg 進入學生可以直接使用的平台，就像Discord 一樣。

Our goal is to think about that top of funnel and making sure we're as relevant as possible to as many students as we can get onto the platform.

我們的目標是考慮漏斗的頂部，並確保我們盡可能與進入平台的學生相關。

Great. That's very helpful. And then just for my follow-up, I was curious on the topline, 3Q guide. Just in light of the new metrics that you started disclosing, can you give any color on what assumptions you're embedding in there in terms of the guidance?

偉大的。這非常有幫助。然後，就我的後續行動而言，我對頂線 3Q 指南感到好奇。根據您開始揭露的新指標，您能否對您在指南中嵌入的假設給出任何顏色？

Can you be a bit more specific on that?

能說得更具體一點嗎？

Yeah. I apologize. I just meant in terms of retention and subscriber growth, what is kind of embedded in the 3Q top line guidance?

是的。我道歉。我只是說就保留率和用戶成長而言，第三季營收指引包含哪些內容？

Okay. Understood. Thank you for the question. When we were building Q3 guidance. It is a bit of a blind spot, it's a toughest quarter for us to predict. But what we've done is we've taken the trajectory of the business over the last -- the first half of the year and extended. So the business that we're seeing and the retention rates, we've baked that into the model.

好的。明白了。謝謝你的提問。當我們制定第三季指引時。這有點盲點，這是我們最難預測的季度。但我們所做的是，我們已經了解了過去（今年上半年）的業務軌跡並延長了。因此，我們看到的業務和保留率，我們已將其納入模型中。

And then we continued with subscriber enrollments, new customer acquisitions being at the rates that we've seen relative to last year, and that's why you've seen the guide down year over year, where we are. So we've got some work to do, but it's really based on what the visibility we've had year-to-date.

然後我們繼續進行訂閱者註冊，新客戶獲取的速度與去年相比，這就是為什麼你會看到指南逐年下降，我們所處的位置。因此，我們還有一些工作要做，但這實際上取決於我們今年迄今為止的可見度。

Bryan Smilek, JPMorgan.

布萊恩‧史邁萊克，摩根大通。

I guess just to start with conversational features now rolled out and 70% of subs engaging with them. Have you seen any improvements in the top of funnel more recently? And I guess, as we think about the 3Q guide, can you just elaborate about your comments around industry pressure and then perhaps any softness that you've seen on the consumer more recently? Thanks.

我想首先是對話功能已經推出，70% 的訂閱者參與其中。您最近是否看到漏斗頂部有任何改進？我想，當我們考慮第三季指南時，您能否詳細說明您對行業壓力的評論，以及您最近在消費者身上看到的任何疲軟情緒？謝謝。

Okay. Around the conversational instruction, we've got rolled out now for that's right in time for the back-to-school season. That's actually a subscriber feature. So it's going to be less of a top of funnel driver. That's why you see us kind of dovetailing ourselves with kind of a renewed spirit in marketing around that Small Steps, Big Wins program.

好的。圍繞著對話教學，我們現在已經推出，因為正好趕上返校季。這實際上是訂閱者功能。因此，它將不再是漏斗頂部的驅動因素。這就是為什麼你會看到我們在圍繞「小步驟，大勝利」計畫的營銷中以一種新的精神來配合自己。

That's going to continue to build on itself over the quarter. And as we really get into '25 as we push harder on that on marketing, you are seeing us also launch more park experiments, which we look to get into our subscribers and potentially our members' hands as people do create accounts, but do not convert, we're coming out with more new and innovative ways for us to get students into an engaged relationship with Chegg. I hope that helps on the conversational side.

這將在本季度繼續發展。當我們真正進入25 世紀時，隨著我們在行銷方面更加努力，您會看到我們還推出了更多的公園實驗，我們希望將這些實驗納入我們的訂戶和潛在的會員手中，因為人們確實創建了帳戶，但不這樣做轉換，我們正在推出更多新的和創新的方法來讓學生與 Chegg 建立密切的關係。我希望這對對話方面有所幫助。

Yeah. And this is David. So on the revenue, I think the comment on the industry pressures was specific to the goodwill impairment. And so we didn't draw a straight line necessarily from the revenue top line to the goodwill impairment.

是的。這是大衛。因此，就收入而言，我認為對行業壓力的評論是針對商譽減損的。因此，我們不一定從收入頂線到商譽減損畫一條直線。

Eric Sheridan, Goldman Sachs.

艾瑞克‧謝裡丹，高盛。

You talked a lot in the slide deck about what you're trying to build from a flow technology standpoint and then how it interacts with sort of a proprietary AI stack. I guess what I'm trying to get at, when you think about some of the product and platform evolution that you want to put in place in '24 going into '25, how should we think about the countervailing factors of the investments that have to be made and then the eventual potential for operating margin leverage on the other side of those investments as well as, as you start to get some yield or output from the restructuring efforts deeper into '25.

您在幻燈片中談論了很多關於您試圖從流程技術角度建立的內容，以及它如何與專有人工智慧堆疊互動。我想我想表達的意思是，當您考慮想要在 24 世紀到 25 年間實施的一些產品和平台演變時，我們應該如何考慮投資的抵消因素然後，當您開始從25 年更深入的重組工作當中獲得一些收益或產出時，這些投資的另一方最終可能會獲得營業利潤槓桿。

Yeah. Hi, thanks. This is David. As we kicked off the restructuring, during June, it was really going towards that guiding light of a 30% adjusted EBIT margin and 100% of free cash flow. Those -- the expenses that we referred to that we've taken out of the P&L of $40 million to $50 million of next year non-GAAP savings. Those are taking into consideration the programs that we need to get done in order to build the product experience as Nathan has outlined in his vision, and we're certainly not going to shortchange the business for the investments that we need to make. Some of the stuff that we're doing is replatforming some of our back-office functions.

是的。你好，謝謝。這是大衛。當我們在 6 月開始重組時，它確實朝著 30% 調整後息稅前利潤率和 100% 自由現金流的方向發展。這些費用——我們提到的費用是我們從明年非 GAAP 節省的 4000 萬至 5000 萬美元損益表中扣除的。這些正在考慮我們需要完成的計劃，以便建立內森在他的願景中概述的產品體驗，我們當然不會因為我們需要進行的投資而減少業務。我們正在做的一些事情是重新建立我們的一些後台功能。

So we've baked in the expenses that will need this year to get us ready for next year, so we can start realizing those. And then as the enrollment season comes through in the back half of the year plays out, we'll have a bunch of different scenarios for how we will fully operationalize towards that goal. So we have a range of outcomes that could happen but none of which we would foresee ourselves needing to shortchange the investments we need to make to get there. Hopefully, that helps.

因此，我們已經考慮了今年所需的費用，以便為明年做好準備，這樣我們就可以開始實現這些目標。然後，隨著下半年招生季節的結束，我們將有很多不同的場景來說明我們如何全面實現這一目標。因此，我們有可能發生一系列結果，但我們不會預見到我們需要縮短實現這一目標所需的投資。希望這會有所幫助。

Josh Baer, Morgan Stanley.

喬許貝爾，摩根士丹利。

I was hoping you could provide a little bit of extra color on the Q3 EBITDA margin guide. I know seasonally, it's a low point as far as quarters in the year, but I think the guide implies 15%, which is a pretty big step down. Just wondering if there's anything else to highlight there.

我希望您能為第三季 EBITDA 利潤率指南提供一些額外的資訊。我知道從季節性來看，這是一年中季度的最低點，但我認為指南暗示 15%，這是一個相當大的下降。只是想知道是否有其他需要強調的地方。

Yeah. Hi, Josh. It's definitely the roughest quarter for us. And we have a pretty fixed cost base that plays through -- throughout the entirety of the year. And the restructuring efforts have really not fully kicked in, and those will really fully utilize those through the P&L next year. When we initially guided -- initially, mentioned -- talked about the distraction we thought it would materialize a little bit quicker.

是的。嗨，喬許。這絕對是我們最艱難的季度。我們有一個相當固定的成本基礎，可以貫穿全年。重組工作確實還沒有完全啟動，明年的損益表將真正充分利用這些重整工作。當我們最初引導時——最初提到的——談到分心時，我們認為它會更快實現。

But some of the stuff that we're doing, some of the big coal items, closing offices, re-platforming technology, those just take a while for us to work their way through our P&L. So the office closures, one of the big ones won't happen until the end of the year. It gives us some time to transition and lean us through that. But it really comes down to that -- the fixed costs that take a while for us to restructure out and align us for next year.

但我們正在做的一些事情，一些大型煤炭項目、關閉辦公室、重新建造技術平台，這些只是我們需要一段時間才能完成損益表。因此，關閉辦公室這一重大事件要到今年年底才會發生。它給了我們一些時間來過渡並幫助我們度過難關。但歸根結底是固定成本，我們需要一段時間才能重組並為明年做好準備。

Okay. Got it. And then just a follow-up kind of considering the fixed cost base and some of those comments, when you look out to some of the targets for 2025 around 30% EBITDA margin, $100 million at least in free cash flow. If the top line comes in lighter than your expectations, does that mean that you'll take further action in order to defend the 30% EBITDA and $100 million in free cash flow?

好的。知道了。然後，當你關注 2025 年 EBITDA 利潤率約 30% 的一些目標時，考慮固定成本基礎和其中一些評論，即至少 1 億美元的自由現金流。如果營收低於您的預期，是否意味著您將採取進一步行動以捍衛 30% 的 EBITDA 和 1 億美元的自由現金流？

That's right. So the target isn't necessary -- the target is static, but the steps that we would take to get there. We can certainly make some adjustments as we go. We gave ourselves some headroom to get to those numbers in case the top line doesn't materialize as things run, as I mentioned in the prior question, there was a bunch of scenarios for how the topline, how the business shakes out into 2025.

這是正確的。因此，目標不是必需的——目標是靜態的，而是我們為實現目標而採取的步驟。我們當然可以在進行過程中做出一些調整。我們為自己留出了一些空間來獲取這些數字，以防隨著事情的進展，營收無法實現，正如我在上一個問題中提到的，有很多關於營收如何、業務如何進入2025 年的場景。

And we'll -- by the time we get to the beginning of '25, we'll have a lot more visibility into how many subscribers we're entering the year with and then can recalibrate from there. But we -- it's not just sort of one model that we've set and forget. We'll actively manage towards that and -- leading into '25 and then throughout '25.

到 25 年初，我們將更清楚地了解進入這一年的訂閱者數量，然後可以從那裡重新調整。但我們——這不僅僅是我們設定並忘記的模式。我們將積極努力實現這一目標——進入 25 年，然後貫穿整個 25 年。

Ryan MacDonald, Needham & Company.

瑞安麥克唐納，李約瑟公司。

I was wondering if you could expand a bit upon the subscriber count in second quarter and sort of the step down we saw from Q1 to Q2. It seems like a bit of a larger step down seasonally relative to years past when you look at Q1 to Q2. Can you just talk about if there were any sort of changes in user behavior or subscriber behaviors this year relative to years past? And how that's sort of guiding your thoughts about the second half of this year?

我想知道您是否可以擴大第二季的訂戶數量以及我們從第一季到第二季看到的下降幅度。從第一季到第二季來看，與過去幾年相比，季節性下降似乎更大。您能否談談今年的用戶行為或訂戶行為與往年相比是否有任何變化？這對您對今年下半年的想法有何指導？

Yeah, this is David. I think it's the functionality of the subscription math that we've talked about before entering each period with a certain number of subscribers. And then as you add to those, when subscribers churn out, it just you got to refill that funnel and refill that base.

是的，這是大衛。我認為這是我們在進入具有一定數量訂閱者的每個時期之前討論過的訂閱數學功能。然後，當你添加這些內容時，當訂閱者大量流失時，你只需重新填充該漏斗並重新填充該基礎。

I'll add to that is we fully reacted guys that over the last couple of quarters, as David mentioned on the description math, that the conversion rate for what we're treating for is not what we have today. We have a very well researched product vision. We're building towards that product vision right now. We're starting with that marketing program that we've outlined a couple of times now in the call, to rebuild that top line funnel.

我要補充的是，我們在過去的幾個季度中做出了充分的反應，正如大衛在描述數學中提到的那樣，我們正在處理的轉換率不是我們今天所擁有的。我們有一個經過充分研究的產品願景。我們現在正在朝著這個產品願景邁進。我們將從電話會議中多次概述的行銷計劃開始，以重建營收管道。

And as we get kids in top of funnel, provide them with stronger value props to acquire. It's just going to take some time to get us back on the right path and we're excited about the upcoming semester, but it's a tough one as we talked about to predict. But we're treading for the future. We've got the plan, and we've got the team, and we've got the investment necessary, we believe, to get it done.

當我們讓孩子處於漏斗頂部時，為他們提供更強大的價值道具來獲取。只是需要一些時間才能讓我們回到正確的道路上，我們對即將到來的學期感到興奮，但正如我們所說的預測，這是一個艱難的學期。但我們正在邁向未來。我們相信，我們已經有了計劃、有了團隊、也有了必要的投資來完成它。

Helpful color. Maybe as a follow-up. On the international rollout, great to see the fully localized app in Mexico being rolled out by the end of September. How should we think about the pace of the additional localizations or full localizations as we think about and move into 2025 now that you're going to have the sort of this first one out at the end of September here?

有用的顏色。也許作為後續行動。在國際推廣方面，很高興看到完全在地化的應用程式於 9 月底在墨西哥推出。既然你們將在 9 月底推出第一個本地化版本，那麼當我們考慮並進入 2025 年時，我們應該如何考慮額外本地化或完整本地化的步伐？

Great question. Good to remind all of us that we're really hunkering down on 6 key markets, which we've talked about a couple of times, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, Turkey, South Korea and Mexico. Mexico is the first one. Just to be clear, we're fully localizing on the web first, and then we'll continue to push up natively as well. So both experiences will be fully done. That's all happening this year.

很好的問題。很高興提醒我們所有人，我們確實正在專注於 6 個關鍵市場，我們已經多次討論過這些市場：加拿大、澳洲、英國、土耳其、韓國和墨西哥。墨西哥是第一個。需要明確的是，我們先在網路上完全在地化，然後我們也會繼續在本地進行推廣。這樣這兩種體驗就都完成了。這一切都發生在今年。

The September localization for us the cultural linguistic stuff is first, and then obviously, we continue with that user experience as we continue to build more functions. So you guys see Mexico this back second half based on performance, we'll continue to figure out at what speed you want to either add countries or continue to localize on the other experiences.

九月對我們來說，文化語言的在地化是第一位的，然後顯然，我們會繼續提供使用者體驗，同時繼續建立更多功能。所以你們看到墨西哥下半年的表現是基於表現，我們將繼續弄清楚你們想要以什麼速度添加國家或繼續在地化其他體驗。

We've got to have already done stuff in Turkey and South Korea in the marketing funnels on the conversion funnels in the past. So this is a -- Mexico is a step up in terms of this full localization capabilities. We really want to take an approach where we can get a defined playbook and then with certainty how to roll it out.

我們過去必須已經在土耳其和韓國的營銷管道和轉換管道中做過一些事情。因此，墨西哥在完全本地化能力方面取得了進展。我們確實希望採取一種方法，我們可以得到一個明確的劇本，然後確定如何推出它。

Brian Peterson, Raymond James.

布萊恩彼得森，雷蒙德詹姆斯。

This is Jessica on for Brian. So following up on an earlier question. I just want to know a little bit about how a company is the restructuring plan? Do you see that influencing like your workforce and how that influences your international strategy and marketing aspect you have there?

這是潔西卡為布萊恩代言。因此，繼續回答之前的問題。我只是想了解一下一家公司的重組方案是怎麼樣的？您是否認為這會像您的員工隊伍一樣產生影響？

A little choppy, but I think I heard a restructuring plan in workforce --

有點不穩定，但我想我聽到了勞動力重組計劃——

I just want to double click a little bit on how exactly the restructuring has influenced the workforce you have for your international outreach and strategy there.

我只想雙擊一下，看看重組究竟如何影響了你們在那裡的國際推廣和策略的員工隊伍。

Let me speak first domestically our workforce. I think it's important after restructuring. One of our key initiatives is to make sure we continue to retain top talent at Chegg.

首先讓我談談我們國內的勞動力。我認為重組後這一點很重要。我們的關鍵舉措之一是確保我們繼續留住 Chegg 的頂尖人才。

Obviously, the mission here is something that drives a ton of people and the reason why we're so indebted to what we're doing, Chegg, both domestically and internationally, it sits at this pretty amazing intersection between education and technology and honestly presents one of our employees with one of the largest platforms in the world to demonstrate the innovations that can be gained by putting the student first and a lot of applying technology, high-level, high-value curriculum, efficacious construction into a single platform. Whether that's the best of International, we put on to continue to apply at methodology and continue to see that we believe our results will continue to get better.

顯然，這裡的使命是激勵許多人的事情，也是我們對我們所做的事情如此感激的原因，Chegg，無論是在國內還是在國際上，它都處於教育和技術之間令人驚奇的交叉點，並且誠實地呈現我們的一名員工擁有世界上最大的平台之一，展示透過將學生放在第一位以及將大量應用技術、高水平、高價值課程、有效構建整合到一個平台中可以獲得的創新。無論這是否是國際上最好的，我們都會繼續應用方法論，並繼續看到我們相信我們的結果將繼續變得更好。

Great. And also, a follow-up question is as you continue to develop and roll out your AI platform, how has this influence your competitive position in the market? Are you seeing evolution kind of players you're competing against? Thanks.

偉大的。此外，後續問題是，隨著您繼續開發和推出人工智慧平台，這對您在市場中的競爭地位有何影響？您是否看到正在與您競爭的玩家是進化型的？謝謝。

What's really important when we think about is how do we support students the best way possibly can. I said this in my prepared remarks, that we're not just trying to apply AI to education. We're really trying to make AI as that will apply AI in a way that makes education better for students.

當我們考慮時，真正重要的是我們如何以盡可能最好的方式支持學生。我在準備好的發言中說過，我們不僅僅是試圖將人工智慧應用於教育。我們確實在努力創造人工智慧，因為這將以一種讓學生接受更好教育的方式應用人工智慧。

And so no, it's not expanding on my competitive set, But we're really pushing is how do we sit at a point where we can leverage all of the innovations that are coming out from AI, whether it's from our own proprietary models, it's some other foundational models or it's the combination of the both is really what we're focused on is how do we apply AI in a way that enhances education and the value of contracted students.

所以不，它並沒有擴大我的競爭範圍，但我們真正推動的是我們如何能夠利用人工智慧帶來的所有創新，無論是來自我們自己的專有模型，還是來自人工智慧的創新。模型，或兩者的結合，我們真正關注的是如何應用人工智慧來增強教育和合約學生的價值。

Once we have that, it's really about getting that value prop out into the hands of students. And really clearing out what the value is that can be derived from it.

一旦我們做到了這一點，我們真正要做的就是將這個價值支柱交到學生手中。並真正弄清楚可以從中獲得什麼價值。

Devin Au, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Devin Au，KeyBanc 資本市場。

I really appreciate the added disclosures. I wanted to ask about subscription services ARPU in the US. and international. It seems like the price differential between US and international is around 50%. I know it's only one quarter of data, but I also acknowledge that you guys are rolling out more localization efforts in Mexico and you're doing some price testing in the US, but just curious if that 50% level of price gap between the two, is that like a sustainable level in the near term? Just how should we think about that?

我真的很感謝增加的披露。我想問一下美國的訂閱服務 ARPU。和國際化。美國和國際之間的價格差異似乎在 50% 左右。我知道這只是四分之一的數據，但我也承認你們正在墨西哥進行更多本地化工作，並且正在美國進行一些價格測試，但只是好奇兩者之間是否有 50% 的價格差距，這是否是近期可持續的水平？我們該如何思考這個問題呢？

Yeah. Hi, Devin. It's David. And yes, I think the international versus US will definitely see international ARPU at lower levels, even as we get better product market fit in the six geos that we're going after. But as we did our promotional pricing last year, we found that we absolutely gained better traction and conversion at lower price points because of the purchasing power parity compared to the US dollar.

是的。嗨，德文。是大衛。是的，我認為國際與美國相比肯定會看到國際 ARPU 處於較低水平，即使我們在我們追求的六個地理區域中獲得了更好的產品市場契合度。但正如我們去年進行的促銷定價一樣，我們發現，由於與美元相比的購買力平價，我們絕對以較低的價格獲得了更好的吸引力和轉換率。

And thankfully, with our automated solutions rollout and our further integration of AI, we can serve those customers still profitably bringing in a lower a lower ARPU. Also in the US, we do historically have better ARPU -- excuse me, better retention in the US. So it's a double whammy there where you get customers staying longer, paying a higher price point than what we have historically seen in international.

值得慶幸的是，透過我們自動化解決方案的推出和人工智慧的進一步集成，我們可以為那些仍然能夠以較低的 ARPU 帶來利潤的客戶提供服務。同樣在美國，我們歷史上確實有更好的 ARPU——對不起，在美國的保留率更高。因此，這是一個雙重打擊，你會讓顧客停留更長時間，支付比我們歷史上在國際上看到的更高的價格。

Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

謝謝。目前沒有其他問題。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。