Charles River Laboratories International Inc (CRL) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Charles River Laboratories Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. This call is being recorded. (Operator Instructions)

女士們，先生們，感謝您的收看，歡迎參加Charles River Laboratories 2023年第三季業績電話會議。本次電話會議正在錄音中。 （接線生指示）

I would now like to turn the conference over to our host, Todd Spencer, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在，我想將會議交給主持人、投資者關係副總裁托德·斯賓塞。請開始。

Good morning, and welcome to Charles River Laboratories Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. This morning, I am joined by Jim Foster, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Flavia Pease, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. They will comment on our results for the third quarter of 2023. Following the presentation, they will respond to questions.

早安，歡迎參加Charles River Laboratories 2023年第三季業績電話會議及網路直播。今天上午，董事長、總裁兼執行長Jim Foster和執行副總裁兼財務長Flavia Pease將與我們一同出席。他們將就我們2023年第三季的業績發表演講。演講結束後，他們將回答大家的提問。

There is a slide presentation associated with today's website, which is posted on the Investor Relations section of our website at ir.criver.com. A webcast replay of this call will be available beginning approximately 2 hours after the call today and can also be accessed on our Investor Relations website. The replay will be available through next quarter's conference call.

今天的網站附帶一份幻燈片演示，發佈於我們網站 ir.criver.com 的「投資者關係」板塊。本次電話會議的網路回放將於今天電話會議結束後約兩小時開始提供，您也可以在我們的投資者關係網站上觀看。回放將在下個季度的電話會議上提供。

I'd like to remind you of our safe harbor. All remarks that we make about future expectations, plans and prospects for the company constitute forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may materially differ from those indicated.

我想提醒您注意我們的安全港條款。我們對公司未來預期、計畫和前景的所有評論均構成《1995年私人證券訴訟改革法》規定的前瞻性陳述。實際結果可能與預期結果有重大差異。

During the conference call, we will primarily discuss non-GAAP financial measures, which we believe help investors gain a meaningful understanding of the core operating results and guidance. The non-GAAP financial measures are not meant to be considered superior to or a substitute for results of operations prepared in accordance with GAAP. In accordance with Regulation G, you can find the comparable GAAP measures and reconciliations on the Investor Relations section of our website.

在電話會議中，我們將主要討論非公認會計準則 (Non-GAAP) 財務指標，我們相信這些指標有助於投資者有效理解核心營運績效和指引。非公認會計準則 (Non-GAAP) 財務指標並非旨在優於或取代根據公認會計準則 (GAAP) 編制的營運績效。根據 G 條例，您可以在我們網站的「投資者關係」部分找到可比較的公認會計準則 (GAAP) 指標和對帳表。

I will now turn the call over to Jim Foster.

現在我將電話轉給吉姆·福斯特。

Good morning. We reported third quarter organic revenue growth of 4.1% and earnings per share of $2.72, both of which exceeded our prior outlook. As anticipated, our growth rates declined from first half levels, reflecting the difficult comps from last year and the moderating demand that is affecting our businesses this year.

早安.我們公佈第三季有機收入成長4.1%，每股收益2.72美元，兩者都超出我們先前的預期。正如預期，我們的成長率較上半年有所下降，這反映了去年同期的艱難業績以及今年影響我們業務的需求放緩。

Looking at the biopharmaceutical end market environment, we believe certain demand trends slowed -- showed some early positive signs, but clients also remain cautious with their spending. Biopharmaceutical clients are continuing to reprioritize their pipelines and in some cases, conserve cash or streamline their cost structures. This has led to a meaningful impact on some of our businesses this year, including Discovery Services and our Manufacturing segment and began to have a more discernible impact on the RMS business in the third quarter. We believe the current client spending patterns will persist in the near term. However, we are also seeing some early encouraging signs starting to emerge, which support our belief that the demand environment will stabilize.

縱觀生物製藥終端市場環境，我們認為某些需求趨勢有所放緩——顯示出一些早期的積極跡象，但客戶在支出方面仍保持謹慎。生物製藥客戶正在持續調整其產品線的優先級，在某些情況下，還會節省現金或精簡成本結構。這對我們今年的部分業務產生了重大影響，包括發現服務和製造部門，並在第三季開始對 RMS 業務產生更明顯的影響。我們認為，目前的客戶支出模式將在短期內持續下去。然而，我們也看到一些早期令人鼓舞的跡象開始出現，這支持了我們對需求環境將趨於穩定的信念。

In the Safety Assessment business, we were pleased to see sequential improvement in both the study cancellation rate and the net book-to-bill ratio in the third quarter. These favorable trends are supported by external indicators, including a stable biotech funding environment. The third quarter was the second consecutive quarterly increase in biotech funding on a trailing 12-month basis, led by venture capital investments.

在安全評估業務方面，我們很高興看到第三季研究取消率和淨訂單出貨比均較上季改善。這些良好趨勢得到了外部指標的支持，包括穩定的生技融資環境。第三季是生技融資額連續第二季實現過去12個月的成長，其中創投領漲。

I will now provide highlights of our third quarter performance. We reported revenue of $1.03 billion in the third quarter of 2023, a 3.8% increase over last year. Organic revenue growth of 4.1% was driven by all three business segments, led by a mid-single-digit increase in the DSA segment. As I mentioned earlier, the third quarter growth rate was affected by a difficult comparison to last year, that included organic growth of 15.3% in the third quarter of 2022. By client segment, third quarter revenue growth was driven by solid demand from global biopharma clients and academic institutions.

現在，我將重點介紹我們第三季的業績。我們報告稱，2023年第三季的營收為10.3億美元，較去年同期成長3.8%。有機收入成長4.1%，這得益於三大業務部門的共同推動，其中DSA部門實現了中等個位數的成長。正如我之前提到的，第三季的成長率受到了與去年同期15.3%的有機成長（包括2022年第三季15.3%的有機成長）相比較為艱難的影響。按客戶細分，第三季營收成長主要得益於全球生物製藥客戶和學術機構的強勁需求。

As has been the case throughout the year, the growth rate for small and midsized biotech slowed as these clients are being more selective with their spending. Growth of biotech clients last year also outpaced all other client segments, driving the particularly difficult comparison in the second half of the year.

與全年情況一樣，中小型生物科技公司的成長率有所放緩，因為這些客戶在支出方面更加謹慎。去年生物科技客戶的成長速度也超過了所有其他客戶群體，這使得下半年的對比特別困難。

The operating margin was 20.5%, an increase of 10 basis points year-over-year. The slight improvement was driven primarily by the DSA segment as well as lower unallocated corporate costs. These improvements were largely offset by margin pressure in both the RMS and Manufacturing segments.

營業利益率為20.5%，較去年成長10個基點。這一小幅提升主要得益於直接銷售和未分配企業成本的下降。這些改善在很大程度上被庫存管理和製造部門的利潤率壓力所抵消。

Earnings per share were $2.72 in the third quarter, an increase of 3.4% from the third quarter of last year. This exceeded our prior outlook, due primarily to the top line outperformance. In addition, the year-over-year headwind from interest expense is beginning to dissipate.

第三季每股收益為2.72美元，較去年同期成長3.4%。這超出了我們先前的預期，主要得益於營收的優異表現。此外，利息支出帶來的年比不利影響正逐漸消散。

We have tightened our revenue and non-GAAP earnings per share guidance ranges for 2023 as we move into the final quarter of the year. We are narrowing our organic revenue growth guidance to a range of 5.5% to 6.5%, and our non-GAAP earnings per share guidance to a range of $10.50 to $10.70, which raises the bottom end and trims the top end of our prior range by $0.20 per share, respectively. The guidance update is primarily due to shifts in the gating of our forecast between quarters and the favorable impact of lower third quarter cancellations in the Safety Assessment business being largely offset by a reduced outlook for our Manufacturing Solutions segment in the fourth quarter.

隨著本年度最後一季的臨近，我們已下調了2023年的收入和非公認會計準則每股收益預期範圍。我們將有機收入成長預期下調至5.5%至6.5%，非公認會計準則每股收益預期下調至10.50美元至10.70美元，這分別將先前預期範圍的下限和上限分別上調了0.20美元和0.20美元。此次預期更新主要由於我們預測的門檻在不同季度之間有所調整，以及安全評估業務第三季訂單取消量減少帶來的有利影響，但在很大程度上被第四季度製造解決方案業務部門預期下調所抵消。

I'd like to provide you with additional details on our third quarter segment performance, beginning with the DSA segment's results. DSA revenue in the third quarter was $664 million, an increase of 5.3% on an organic basis. Safety Assessment business continued to drive DSA revenue growth, with contributions from base pricing and higher study volume, driven by non-NHP-related work and post-IND studies. NHP pricing was a modest benefit to the growth rate. But as I will discuss shortly, NHP study volume declined year-over-year.

我想向您詳細介紹我們第三季各部門的業績，首先是DSA部門的業績。第三季DSA營收為6.64億美元，有機成長5.3%。安全評估業務持續推動DSA收入成長，這得益於基礎定價和研究量的增加，而這些貢獻主要來自非NHP相關工作和IND後研究。 NHP定價對成長率略有貢獻。但正如我稍後將討論的那樣，NHP研究量同比有所下降。

Discovery Services remained an integral component of our end-to-end early-stage portfolio because it enables us to forge relationships with clients at earlier stages of the R&D process. However, the business continues to be impacted by the overall biopharma demand environment as clients focus on post-IND work and getting their drugs to the clinic to the detriment of discovery spending.

藥物發現服務仍然是我們端到端早期產品組合中不可或缺的組成部分，因為它使我們能夠在研發流程的早期階段與客戶建立聯繫。然而，由於客戶專注於新藥臨床試驗申請 (IND) 後的工作以及將藥物推向臨床，從而減少了藥物發現支出，該業務仍受到整體生物製藥需求環境的影響。

As I mentioned earlier, we saw some early signs of more favorable demand trends in the third quarter for our Safety Assessment business. The cancellation rate improved sequentially and was at the lowest level since the second quarter of 2022. The net book-to-bill ratio also improved sequentially, but remained below 1x. As a result, the DSA backlog declined in the third quarter to $2.6 billion from $2.8 billion at the end of the second quarter. However, as the lower cancellation suggests clients appear to be moving further along in their pipeline reprioritization processes, which we believe will lead to a higher quality and more reliable book of business. With the net book-to-bill remaining below 1x, we believe the current demand trends will persist in the near term, including in the fourth quarter, which, as a reminder, already faces a difficult comparison to DSA organic growth of 26.5% reported last year.

正如我之前提到的，我們在第三季看到了一些早期跡象，顯示安全評估業務的需求趨勢正在改善。訂單取消率環比有所改善，並處於2022年第二季以來的最低水準。淨訂單出貨比也較上季有所改善，但仍低於1倍。因此，第三季的DSA積壓訂單從第二季末的28億美元下降至26億美元。然而，由於訂單取消率的下降表明客戶在其產品線重新優化流程中似乎正在取得進一步進展，我們相信這將帶來更高品質、更可靠的訂單。由於淨訂單出貨比仍低於1倍，我們認為目前的需求趨勢將在短期內持續下去，包括第四季。需要提醒的是，與去年報告的26.5%的DSA有機成長率相比，第四季的業績已經相當艱難。

Overall, we believe stabilizing demand trends and significant backlog coverage will enable us to achieve our financial targets, including high single-digit DSA organic revenue growth for 2023, which is above our prior outlook for the segment.

總體而言，我們相信穩定的需求趨勢和大量的積壓訂單覆蓋將使我們能夠實現財務目標，包括 2023 年 DSA 有機收入實現高個位數增長，這高於我們對該部門的先前預期。

The DSA operating margin was 27.2% in the third quarter, a 100-basis-point increase from the third quarter of 2022. The increase continued to be driven by operating leverage associated with higher revenue in the Safety Assessment business.

第三季 DSA 營業利益率為 27.2%，較 2022 年第三季增加 100 個基點。這一增長繼續受到安全評估業務收入增加所帶來的營業槓桿的推動。

Before moving on to RMS, I'd like to comment on our NHP-related study work. At our Investor Day in September, we provided some information around the benefit from NHP pricing on our DSA revenue growth rates. We believe that additional information would be useful for investors and analysts to gain a better understanding of the impact of NHP pricing and NHP-related safety assessment studies on our business.

在談到 RMS 之前，我想先談談我們與 NHP 相關的研究工作。在 9 月的投資者日上，我們提供了一些關於 NHP 定價對我們 DSA 收入成長率的益處的資訊。我們相信，這些資訊將有助於投資者和分析師更好地理解 NHP 定價以及 NHP 相關安全評估研究對我們業務的影響。

Over a 3-year period, ending in 2023, NHP pricing is expected to benefit DSA revenue growth by a total of just $230 million or approximately 30% of our total DSA revenue growth since 2020. Without the impact of NHP pricing, DSA revenue would still have increased at a high single-digit growth CAGR since 2020. In total, NHP Safety Assessment study revenue, which includes both services and the embedded NHP revenue, is expected to represent approximately 30% of DSA segment revenue in both 2022 and 2023.

在截至 2023 年的 3 年期間，NHP 定價預計將使 DSA 收入增長總計 2.3 億美元，約占我們 2020 年以來 DSA 總收入增長的 30%。即使沒有 NHP 定價的影響，DSA 收入自 2020 年以來仍將以高個位數複合年增長率成長。總體而言，包括服務和嵌入式 NHP 收入在內的 NHP 安全評估研究收入預計將佔 2022 年和 2023 年 DSA 部門收入的約 30%。

NHP pricing has rapidly escalated since 2020 due to both NHP supply constraints and the continued increase of biologic drugs in development. Supply constraints began in China around the pandemic and intensified last year due to the Cambodian NHP supply situation in the U.S. This has caused NHP pricing to increase by approximately $20,000 per model in aggregate since 2020.

自2020年以來，由於NHP供應受限以及生物製劑研發數量持續增加，NHP價格迅速上漲。疫情期間，中國NHP供應受限的情況開始出現，去年因美國柬埔寨NHP供應緊張而加劇。這導致自2020年以來，每隻NHP的價格累計上漲了約2萬美元。

In 2023, we expect to utilize approximately 11,400 NHPs in safety assessment studies worldwide. This represents a reduction of approximately 25% from over 15,000 in the prior year, principally driven by the current level of biopharmaceutical demand and our clients' focus on their post-IND safety assessment work, which generates higher service revenue per model due to the longer-term nature of these studies, with fewer NHPs are used to generate that service revenue.

2023年，我們預計全球範圍內的安全評估研究中將使用約11,400個NHP。與上一年的15,000多個相比，這一數字減少了約25%。這主要受當前生物製藥需求水準以及客戶對IND後安全評估工作的關注所致。由於這些研究的周期較長，每個模型的服務收入較高，而用於產生服務收入的NHP數量則有所減少。

A long-standing strategic imperative of the company is responsible animal use, which includes modifying or reducing animal usage. Responsible animal use is firmly embedded in our commitment to animal welfare and the 4Rs principles. And its adoption accelerated this year as a result of the NHP supply constraints.

負責任的動物使用是公司長期以來的戰略要務，包括調整或減少動物使用。負責任的動物使用牢牢植根於我們對動物福利的承諾和4R原則。由於NHP供應受限，今年我們加快了動物使用的步伐。

One example of our progress is the introduction of virtual control groups for toxicology studies. Virtual control groups, or VCGs, replaced the animals and control groups with existing randomized data sets and statistical evaluations. It will take some time to adopt, but we are having active discussions with our clients about VCGs.

我們取得的進展之一是在毒理學研究中引入虛擬對照組。虛擬對照組（VCG）以現有的隨機數據集和統計評估取代了動物和對照組。這項技術的推廣需要一些時間，但我們正在與客戶積極探討 VCG 的相關事宜。

As many of you are aware, we have committed to providing additional disclosure on NHP sourcing and a comprehensive update on our NHP strategic initiatives in early 2024. The timing of this strategic update will be ideal as we recognize the industry is changing, and these shifts are causing disruptive technologies to emerge and societal needs to evolve.

正如你們許多人所知，我們承諾在 2024 年初提供有關 NHP 採購的額外揭露，並全面更新我們的 NHP 策略計劃。這次策略更新的時機非常理想，因為我們意識到產業正在發生變化，這些轉變正在導致顛覆性技術的出現和社會需求的發展。

With the industry at an inflection point, we will reinforce our critical role in preclinical drug development and maintain our leadership position. We will do this by leading with science, remaining committed to our essential mission of creating healthier lives and ensuring patient safety and by consistently challenging ourselves to raise the bar.

在這個產業轉捩點之際，我們將強化在臨床前藥物研發中的關鍵作用，並保持領先地位。我們將以科學為先導，堅守創造更健康生活、保障病人安全的核心使命，並不斷挑戰自我，不斷提升標準。

And as we look to the future, we will be focused on ensuring a sustainable supply chain, particularly for NHPs. And we'll also pursue a longer-term strategy to lead the industry in adopting animal alternatives.

展望未來，我們將專注於確保可持續的供應鏈，尤其是針對非人靈長類動物。我們也將推行一項長期策略，引領業界採用動物替代品。

Our team is diligently working to continue to enhance our processes and key initiatives in these areas. We've already made several investments in non-animal technologies, ranging from our Endosafe Trillium launch this summer for endotoxin-detection testing, to our technology partnerships with Valo for Discovery AI, PathoQuest for next-gen sequencing for in vitro viral study -- safety testing and Cypre for 3D tumor modeling. We look forward to sharing our NHP strategic update in early 2024.

我們的團隊正努力持續改善這些領域的流程和關鍵舉措。我們已經在非動物技術領域進行了多項投資，包括今年夏天推出的用於內毒素檢測的 Endosafe Trillium，以及與 Valo 合作研發的 Discovery AI、與 PathoQuest 合作研發的用於體外病毒研究安全性測試的新一代測序技術，以及與 Cypre 合作研發的 3D 腫瘤建模技術。我們期待在 2024 年初發布 NHP 策略更新。

RMS revenue was $186.8 million, an increase of 3.2% on an organic basis over the third quarter of 2022. This is below the year-to-date high single-digit revenue growth rate for two primary reasons: slower demand from mid-tier clients, including biotechs and CROs; and the timing of NHP shipments within China as we anticipated last quarter.

RMS 營收為 1.868 億美元，較 2022 年第三季有機成長 3.2%。此營收成長率低於年初至今的高個位數營收成長率，主要有兩個原因：包括生技公司和 CRO 在內的中階客戶需求放緩；以及中國境內 NHP 的出貨時間與我們上個季度的預期一致。

The timing of NHP shipments within China is transitory. We expect NHP revenue in China will improve in the fourth quarter, although some shipments will slip out of 2023. For the year, we expect RMS organic revenue growth will be in the mid- to high single-digit range.

中國境內NHP的出貨時間是暫時的。我們預計中國NHP的收入將在第四季度有所改善，儘管部分出貨量將推遲到2023年。我們預計今年RMS的有機收入成長率將達到中高個位數。

In the third quarter, we generated revenue growth in our small research models business and in the services business. Our client segment demand from global biopharma clients and academic institutions remain robust and drove RMS revenue growth. But as I mentioned, this was offset by mid-tier clients affected by the broader biopharma demand environment as well as by softer demand from government accounts. Small molecules revenue increased across all geographic regions, including China, principally driven by price.

第三季度，我們的小型研究模型業務和服務業務實現了收入成長。來自全球生物製藥客戶和學術機構的客戶細分需求仍然強勁，推動了RMS收入的成長。但正如我之前提到的，受更廣泛的生物製藥需求環境以及政府帳戶需求疲軟的影響，中端客戶的需求抵消了這一增長。包括中國在內的所有地區的小分子藥物收入均有所成長，主要得益於價格上漲。

Our services business continued to report healthy growth, led by in-sourcing solutions and our CRADL operations. Our CRADL sites, or our flexible vivarium rental space, remain well utilized overall and continued to generate significant year-over-year revenue growth.

我們的服務業務持續保持健康成長，這主要得益於內部採購解決方案和CRADL業務的帶動。我們的CRADL場地（即靈活的動物飼養場租賃空間）整體利用率較高，並持續帶來顯著的年收入成長。

In the third quarter, the RMS operating margin decreased by 460 basis points to 18.9%. The significant decline was driven by the mix of business, which favored academic clients in our Insourcing Solutions business as well as the timing of NHP shipments within China. We expect the RMS operating margin will rebound in the fourth quarter due in part to the timing of the China NHP shipments.

第三季度，RMS 營業利益率下降 460 個基點至 18.9%。大幅下降的原因是業務結構調整，我們的內部採購解決方案業務更青睞學術客戶，以及 NHP 在中國的出貨時間表。我們預計，RMS 營業利潤率將在第四季度反彈，部分原因是中國 NHP 出貨時間安排的調整。

In addition, as we mentioned at Investor Day, we are reviewing the profitability of certain Insourcing Solutions contracts, which should benefit the RMS operating margin in the future.

此外，正如我們在投資者日所提到的，我們正在審查某些內部採購解決方案合約的獲利能力，這應該有利於 RMS 未來的營業利潤率。

Revenue for the Manufacturing Solutions segment was $175.7 million, an increase of 0.9% on an organic basis compared to the third quarter of last year. The segment is experiencing softness across the broader end markets, which we attribute to a post-COVID slowdown from biopharma manufacturers, CDMOs and their suppliers. These market conditions started to more noticeably impact the Microbial Solutions business in the third quarter.

生產解決方案部門營收為1.757億美元，與去年第三季相比有機成長0.9%。該部門正經歷更廣泛的終端市場疲軟，我們將其歸因於新冠疫情後生物製藥製造商、合約製造生產組織（CDMO）及其供應商的業務放緩。這些市場狀況在第三季開始對微生物解決方案業務產生更顯著的影響。

Clients, particularly CDMOs, are cutting costs as part of their COVID destocking efforts and reducing testing volumes as fewer programs advance into the clinic, but these clients must continue to manufacture commercial products. So we believe the long-term growth trends for our Manufacturing segment will reemerge after a period of right sizing.

客戶，尤其是CDMO，正在削減成本，以應對新冠疫情去庫存的舉措，並隨著進入臨床的項目減少而減少檢測量，但這些客戶必須繼續生產商業產品。因此，我們相信，經過一段時間的合理調整後，製造部門的長期成長趨勢將重新顯現。

For Microbial Solutions, the global biopharma demand environment is affecting our Endosafe endotoxin testing product line, as clients reduce both testing volumes and investments in new instruments. This includes China, where we have a small microbial operation and like many life science instrumentation companies, have seen a decline in client demand.

對於微生物解決方案部門而言，全球生物製藥需求環境正在影響我們的Endosafe內毒素檢測產品線，因為客戶減少了檢測量和新儀器的投資。其中包括中國，我們在中國擁有較小的微生物業務，與許多生命科學儀器公司一樣，客戶需求也出現了下降。

However, other areas of the business, such as Accugenix microbial identification services, continued to perform well. Third quarter trends in biologics testing were similar to those experienced since the beginning of the year. The sector continued to be challenged by the tighter funding environment, which is resulting in clients reprioritizing projects and reducing demand for services that can be conducted at various times during the development process, including viral clearance and cell banking.

然而，其他業務領域，例如Accugenix微生物鑑定服務，繼續表現良好。生物製劑檢測第三季的趨勢與年初以來的趨勢相似。該行業繼續受到資金緊縮的挑戰，這導致客戶重新調整專案優先級，並減少了對可在開發過程各個階段進行的服務的需求，包括病毒清除和細胞庫。

While not immune to the end market challenges, in the other manufacturing businesses, with Cell & Gene Therapy, CDMO business had another solid quarter. Its strong double-digit growth rate in the third quarter reflected the success of the initiatives the CDMO team has implemented since the beginning of 2022 to improve performance. We are working diligently to continue to expand our CDMO sales pipeline of new products, and are pleased to have cleared several regulatory audits in recent months, including European EMA approval of our Memphis site for the production of a second cell therapy product.

雖然在其他製造業務中，例如細胞與基因治療業務，CDMO業務也未能倖免於終端市場的挑戰，但第三季業績表現穩健。第三季強勁的兩位數成長率反映了CDMO團隊自2022年初以來為提升業績而實施的各項舉措的成功。我們正努力拓展CDMO新產品的銷售管道，並很高興在近幾個月內順利通過了多項監管審核，包括歐洲EMA批准我們在孟菲斯的工廠生產第二種細胞治療產品。

We believe that successful regulatory audits will generate additional client interest and support our expectation that we will add new commercial clients.

我們相信，成功的監管審計將會引起更多客戶的興趣，並支持我們增加新商業客戶的期望。

The Manufacturing segment's operating margin declined by 410 basis points year-over-year to 24.5% in the third quarter of 2023, but did improve again sequentially. The year-over-year margin decline reflected the lower revenue growth rate and the softer demand trends across the Manufacturing end markets.

2023年第三季度，製造部門的營業利潤率年減410個基點至24.5%，但較上季有所改善。利潤率同比下降反映了收入成長率下降以及製造終端市場需求疲軟的趨勢。

We are intently focused on driving operating margin improvement in the Manufacturing segment, including the profitability of the CDMO business, as this segment is expected to be the largest contributor to achieving our 2026 margin targets.

我們專注於推動製造部門的營業利潤率提高，包括 CDMO 業務的獲利能力，因為該部門預計將成為實現我們 2026 年利潤率目標的最大貢獻者。

We believe our leading position as an outsourcing partner for our clients' drug discovery and nonclinical drug development efforts is helping us to manage in the current demand environment. The IND enabling and associated nonclinical services that we provide are mandatory to help clients advance their programs into the clinic and eventually to commercialize drugs.

我們相信，作為客戶藥物發現和非臨床藥物開發外包合作夥伴的領先地位，有助於我們在當前的需求環境中保持良好運作。我們提供的IND授權及相關的非臨床服務對於幫助客戶推進其專案進入臨床階段並最終實現藥物商業化至關重要。

Our portfolio also differentiates us in the marketplace because of our unique focus on early-stage R&D solutions and our ability to distinguish ourselves scientifically. We believe that these attributes combined with our continued ability to leverage the significant DSA backlog, will enable us to achieve our financial targets.

我們的產品組合也使我們在市場上脫穎而出，因為我們專注於早期研發解決方案，並且能夠以科學的方式脫穎而出。我們相信，這些優勢，加上我們持續利用大量DSA訂單的能力，將使我們能夠實現財務目標。

Our value proposition of delivering exquisite science and driving greater efficiency and speed to market continues to differentiate Charles River in the marketplace and is reinforced with today's more budget-focused client base.

我們的價值主張是提供精湛的科學技術、提高效率並加快上市速度，這繼續使 Charles River 在市場上脫穎而出，並在當今更加重視預算的客戶群中得到了強化。

To conclude, I'd like to thank our employees for their exceptional work and commitment and our clients and shareholders for their continued support.

最後，我要感謝我們的員工的出色工作和奉獻，以及我們的客戶和股東的持續支持。

Now Flavia will provide additional details on our third quarter financial performance and updated 2023 guidance.

現在，Flavia 將提供有關我們第三季財務業績和更新的 2023 年指引的更多詳細資訊。

Thank you, Jim, and good morning.

謝謝你，吉姆，早安。

Before I begin, may I remind you that I'll be speaking primarily to non-GAAP results, which exclude amortization and other acquisition-related adjustments, costs related primarily to restructuring actions, gains or losses from certain venture capital and other strategic investments and certain other items.

在我開始之前，我想提醒大家，我將主要談論非公認會計準則的結果，其中不包括攤銷和其他與收購相關的調整、主要與重組行動相關的成本、某些風險資本和其他策略投資的收益或損失以及某些其他項目。

Many of my comments will also refer to organic revenue growth, which excludes the impact of acquisitions, divestitures and foreign currency translation.

我的許多評論還將涉及有機收入成長，其中不包括收購、資產剝離和外幣折算的影響。

We're pleased with our third quarter results, which included 4.1% organic revenue growth and an operating margin of 20.5%, representing a 10-basis-point increase on both a year-over-year and sequential basis. Non-GAAP earnings per share of $2.72 for the quarter represented a 3.4% increase over the prior year.

我們對第三季的業績感到滿意，其中有機收入成長4.1%，營業利潤率達20.5%，年比和季均成長10個基點。本季非公認會計準則每股收益為2.72美元，較上年同期成長3.4%。

As expected, increased interest expense, a higher tax rate and the divestiture of the Avian Vaccine business continue to restrict year-over-year earnings growth rate, but the headwind is beginning to dissipate as we anniversary last year's interest rate increases.

正如預期的那樣，利息支出的增加、稅率的提高以及禽類疫苗業務的剝離繼續限制了同比盈利增長率，但隨著去年利率上調的周年紀念日到來，這種不利因素開始消散。

Our third quarter results outperformed our prior outlook, but as Jim discussed, we remain cautious with regard to the biopharmaceutical end market demand environment. Our updated outlook for the year reflects our normal practice of narrowing our guidance ranges as we move into the fourth quarter as well as a shift in the gating of our forecast between the third and fourth quarters. This is due in part to lower cancellations and study slippage than forecasted in the third quarter in the DSA segment, offset by a reduced outlook for the Manufacturing segment in the fourth quarter.

我們的第三季業績超出了我們先前的預期，但正如Jim所討論的，我們對生物製藥終端市場的需求環境仍持謹慎態度。我們更新後的年度展望反映了我們隨著進入第四季度而縮減預期範圍的慣常做法，以及我們在第三季和第四季之間預測門檻的變化。部分原因是直接消費產品（DSA）部門第三季的取消數量和研究延誤低於預期，但第四季度製造部門的預期下調抵消了這一影響。

Given the cumulative effect of these factors, we have narrowed our revenue growth and non-GAAP earnings per share guidance for the full year. We now expect revenue growth in a range of 2.5% to 3.5% on a reported basis and 5.5% to 6.5% on an organic basis, which represent the low end to midpoint of our prior ranges. We expect continued pressure in the Manufacturing segment, reflecting the softer demand trends, including in the Microbial Solutions business, which we believe will be partially offset by a more favorable outlook for our DSA segment for the year.

鑑於這些因素的累積效應，我們已下調全年收入成長和非公認會計準則每股收益預期。我們目前預計，報告期間營收成長在2.5%至3.5%之間，有機成長在5.5%至6.5%之間，這處於我們先前預期區間的低端至中端。我們預計製造業務將繼續承壓，這反映了包括微生物解決方案業務在內的需求趨勢疲軟，但我們相信，我們今年的直接銷售和銷售業務（DSA）前景將更加樂觀，這將部分抵消這種壓力。

We expect that the consolidated operating margin will be modestly lower than in 2022, resulting in non-GAAP earnings per share guidance in a range of $10.50 to $10.70 compared to our prior outlook of $10.30 to $10.90. We'll continue to manage the business in a disciplined manner, with a focus in setting achievable financial targets, protecting our operating margins by managing costs and driving greater efficiency, remaining disciplined with our investments, taking share and implementing other initiatives to improve performance and manage effectively in this environment.

我們預計，2020 年合併營業利潤率將略低於 2022 年，非公認會計準則每股收益指引將在 10.50 美元至 10.70 美元之間，而我們先前的預期為 10.30 美元至 10.90 美元。我們將繼續以嚴謹的方式管理業務，重點是設定可實現的財務目標，透過控製成本和提高效率來保護營業利潤率，保持投資紀律，擴大市場份額並實施其他舉措，以提升業績並在當前環境下實現有效管理。

We continue to evaluate our operations and we'll appropriately manage our cost structure to align with the current domain environment. Restructuring actions implemented this year are expected to generate approximately $40 million in annualized cost savings. Our updated revenue growth outlook reflects slight revisions for each of our segments. As I just referenced, we are reducing the outlook for our Manufacturing segment to be flat to low single-digit organic growth from our prior outlook in the high single digits.

我們將繼續評估我們的營運狀況，並將適當管理成本結構，以適應當前的產業環境。今年實施的重組措施預計將帶來約4,000萬美元的年度成本節約。我們更新的營收成長預期反映了我們各部門的細微調整。正如我剛才提到的，我們將製造部門的有機成長預期從先前的高個位數成長下調至持平至低個位數成長。

For the RMS segment, we have widened the bottom end of our outlook to mid- to high single-digit organic growth. This reflects the timing of NHP shipments in China, some of which may be deferred to 2024. And our RMS segment also experienced a more discernible impact from mid-tier biopharma clients' softer demand. Our improved outlook for the DSA segment to high single-digit organic revenue growth, principally reflects the lower cancellations and study slippage in the third quarter that I referenced.

對於RMS部門，我們已將預期下限擴大至中高個位數有機成長。這反映了中國非處方藥（NHP）的出貨時間，其中一些可能會推遲到2024年。此外，我們的RMS部門也受到了中端生物製藥客戶需求疲軟的更明顯影響。我們將DSA部門的預期上調至高個位數有機收入成長，這主要反映了我之前提到的第三季取消量和研究延誤的減少。

I will now provide some additional details on the nonoperating items that affected our third quarter performance. Unallocated corporate costs in the third quarter totaled $48 million or 4.7% of total revenue compared to 5.8% of revenue last year. The decrease was primarily due to benefits achieved through our virtual power purchase agreements, or vPPAs.

現在，我將進一步詳細說明影響我們第三季業績的非營運項目。第三季未分配的公司成本總計4,800萬美元，佔總營收的4.7%，而去年同期比例為5.8%。這一下降主要得益於我們透過虛擬購電協議（vPPA）所獲得的收益。

Despite the favorability in the third quarter, we continue to expect unallocated corporate costs to be approximately 5% of total revenue for the full year. As we announced in October, we have achieved 90% renewable electricity globally through a solar vPPA in North America and a wind vPPA in Europe. These agreements have enabled our facilities in those regions to achieve 100% renewable electricity, providing a key component of our efforts to reduce Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions.

儘管第三季業績表現良好，我們仍預計未分配企業成本將佔全年總收入的約5%。正如我們10月份宣布的那樣，我們已透過北美太陽能虛擬購電協議 (vPPA) 和歐洲風能虛擬購電協議 (vPPA) 實現了全球90%的可再生能源電力。這些協議使我們在這些地區的設施實現了100%可再生能源電力，為我們減少範圍一和範圍二溫室氣體排放的努力提供了關鍵組成部分。

The third quarter non-GAAP tax rate was 21.6%, representing a 140-basis-point increase from the same period last year. The higher tax rate year-over-year was due primarily to the geographic mix of earnings. However, the tax rate was favorable to our expectations, principally because of discrete tax benefits related to U.S. R&D tax credits. For the full year, we now expect the tax rate will be at the low end of our prior range, or approximately 22.5%, due primarily to the discrete tax benefit.

第三季非公認會計準則稅率為21.6%，較去年同期增加140個基點。稅率較去年同期上升主要歸因於獲利的地域分佈。然而，稅率高於我們的預期，主要得益於與美國研發稅收抵免相關的單獨稅收優惠。我們目前預計，全年稅率將處於我們先前預期範圍的低端，約為22.5%，這主要得益於單獨稅收優惠。

Total adjusted net interest expense for the third quarter was $32.4 million, representing a decrease of $1.2 million sequentially, due primarily to debt repayment. For the full year, we have narrowed our total adjusted net interest expense outlook by $1 million to a range of $131 million to $133 million, as any further rate increases by the Federal Reserve before the end of the year will not have a meaningful impact on our 2023 results.

第三季調整後淨利息支出總額為3,240萬美元，季減120萬美元，主要原因是債務償還。由於聯準會在年底前進一步升息，我們已將全年調整後淨利息支出總額預期下調100萬美元，至1.31億美元至1.33億美元之間，因為聯準會在年底前的任何進一步升息都不會對我們2023年的業績產生重大影響。

At the end of the third quarter, approximately 80% of our $2.5 billion in outstanding debt was at a fixed interest rate. Our gross and net leverage ratios were both approximately 1.9x at the end of the third quarter. Free cash flow was $139.5 million in the third quarter compared to $60.4 million last year. The year-over-year increase was primarily due to favorable changes in working capital as well as lower capital expenditures.

截至第三季末，我們25億美元未償債務中約80%為固定利率債務。截至第三季末，我們的總槓桿率和淨槓桿率均約為1.9倍。第三季自由現金流為1.395億美元，去年同期為6,040萬美元。年比成長主要得益於營運資本的有利變化以及資本支出的降低。

For the year, we have narrowed our free cash flow guidance to a range of $340 million to $360 million. Capital expenditures were $65.9 million in the third quarter compared to $72.4 million last year. For the year, we now expect CapEx to be in the range of $330 million to $340 million or below our prior outlook of $340 million to $360 million. We continue to take a disciplined approach to managing our capital deployment and are committed to aligning our capacity and capital investments with the current demand trends.

我們已將全年自由現金流預期下調至3.4億至3.6億美元。第三季資本支出為6,590萬美元，去年同期為7,240萬美元。我們目前預計全年資本支出將在3.3億至3.4億美元之間，低於先前預期的3.4億至3.6億美元。我們將繼續採取嚴謹的方法來管理資本配置，並致力於使產能和資本投資與當前需求趨勢保持一致。

A summary of our updated financial guidance for the full year can be found on Slide 37.

我們更新的全年財務指導摘要可在第 37 張投影片上找到。

With 1 quarter remaining in the year, our fourth quarter outlook is effectively embedded in our guidance for the full year. For the fourth quarter, we expect revenue to decline by nearly 10% on a reported basis and at a mid-single-digit rate on an organic basis. This will result in flattish year-over-year organic revenue growth in the second half of the year, which is consistent with the outlook provided in August.

今年僅剩一個季度，我們對第四季的展望已有效融入全年業績指引之中。我們預計第四季營收將按報告基礎下降近10%，有機收入將下降中等個位數。這將導致下半年有機收入年增率持平，這與8月的展望一致。

Non-GAAP earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $2.30 to $2.50. The fourth quarter outlook largely reflects a very challenging comparison to the prior year when we reported organic revenue growth of 18.8%, including DSA growth of 26.5%.

非公認會計準則每股收益預計在2.30美元至2.50美元之間。第四季的業績展望與去年同期相比極具挑戰性。去年，我們報告的有機收入成長了18.8%，其中DSA成長了26.5%。

In conclusion, we're pleased with our solid third quarter performance, which is evidence of the resilience of our business, despite a cautious biopharma spending environment as growth rates normalize to pre-pandemic levels. We'll continue to manage our business prudently in response to the challenges we are seeing in the broader market environment and work diligently to achieve our financial targets. Thank you.

總而言之，我們對第三季穩健的業績感到滿意，這證明了我們業務的韌性，儘管生物製藥支出環境謹慎，但成長率已恢復到疫情前的正常水平。我們將繼續審慎管理業務，以應對更廣泛的市場環境中面臨的挑戰，並努力實現我們的財務目標。謝謝。

That concludes our comments. We will now take your questions.

我們的發言到此結束。現在我們將回答大家的提問。

(Operator Instructions) We'll take our first question from Eric Coldwell with Baird.

（操作員指示）我們將回答來自貝爾德的埃里克·科德威爾 (Eric Coldwell) 提出的第一個問題。

Truly appreciate all the additional details on the NHPs. I'm curious, in 3Q, could you provide commentary on the gross awards in DSA? Were those positive, above 1, below 1? Just any color on gross bookings in the quarter?

非常感謝所有關於NHP的補充細節。我很好奇，您能否對第三季DSA（每日特價機票）的總獎勵進行評論？這些獎勵是正數、大於1還是小於1？本季的總預訂量有變化嗎？

And then on the backlog, $2.6 billion. I'm wondering if you have additional thoughts on where and when that backlog may stabilize at what level? What -- how long it might take for the net reductions to come to an end?

然後談到26億美元的積壓訂單。我想知道您是否還有其他想法，關於積壓訂單何時以及何時會穩定在什麼水平？淨減量需要多久才能結束？

Eric, yes, the gross bookings were above 1 in the third quarter. And we also, as you saw in our prepared remarks, had a sequential improvement in net book-to-bill in the quarter.

艾瑞克，是的，第三季的總訂單量超過了1。而且，正如您在我們準備好的發言中所看到的，本季我們的淨訂單出貨比也較上季有所改善。

So the backlog came down a little bit from the second quarter. It's at $2.6 billion now. It was $2.8 billion in the second quarter. So I think it demonstrates that things are stabilizing, and we're reverting back to the pre-COVID norm as we have been talking about.

因此，積壓訂單較第二季略有下降。目前為26億美元。第二季為28億美元。所以我認為這表明情況正在穩定，我們正在恢復到我們之前所說的新冠疫情之前的常態。

Jim, if I could just jump in with one more. You had an Investor Day not so long ago. Some new updates here on the timing of 3Q, 4Q impacts, maybe some additional market change over the last month or 2. I'm just curious, does -- anything you're seeing today change your outlook on the LRP that was provided just a while ago, achievability, confidence levels?

吉姆，我可以再問一個問題嗎？不久前您舉辦了投資者日活動。關於第三季和第四季的影響時間，以及過去一兩個月的一些額外市場變化，您在這裡分享了一些最新動態。我只是好奇，您今天看到的任何情況是否會改變您對之前提供的LRP、可實現性和信心水平的看法？

And then specifically on 2024, I know you plan to give guidance later, but Street's hovering around $11 of earnings. I think this update might provide some controversy about whether that's a realistic target. I'm just comfort with high-level views on your comfort levels with where Street expectations are for next year?

具體來說，關於2024年的業績，我知道您計劃稍後發布指引，但華爾街對每股盈餘的預期徘徊在11美元左右。我認為這次更新可能會引發一些關於這是否現實的爭議。我只是對高層的看法感到安心，您對華爾街對明年的預期感到滿意？

So Eric, we see -- we feel confident about our 3-year guidance that we just gave. I think those numbers are achievable both on a segment basis and on a total company basis. And I would say that relative view on '24, which we talked about a little bit on that call, hasn't significantly changed.

艾瑞克，我們看到了——我們對剛剛給出的三年預期充滿信心。我認為這些數字無論從分部層級或是從整個公司層級來看都是可以實現的。我想說的是，我們在電話會議上稍微談到的24年業績的相對預期並沒有顯著變化。

But it's a complex market environment. We definitely want to see how the fourth quarter ends. We've only had a month. So it's really too early to provide any more details on '24, but we feel good about the 3-year numbers.

但市場環境複雜。我們當然想看看第四季的收尾情況。我們只有一個月的時間。所以現在提供更多關於24年業績的細節還為時過早，但我們對三年的數據感到樂觀。

We will take our next question from Elizabeth Anderson with Evercore.

我們將回答 Evercore 的 Elizabeth Anderson 提出的下一個問題。

Just in terms of DSA bookings, just a follow-up from Eric's question. Do you see any impact from like pushouts or timing issues? I just want to make sure that we're just looking at everything on sort of like an apples-to-apples basis?

關於DSA預訂，我只是想跟進Eric的問題。您是否認為延期或時間安排問題會造成影響？我想確保我們是在以同類比較的方式看待所有事情的。

And secondarily, can you talk about the cash flow in the quarter? It's a little weaker than we had been expecting. So I just wanted to make sure I understand -- understood all of the puts and takes there?

其次，您能談談本季的現金流嗎？它比我們預期的要弱一些。所以我只是想確保我了解所有相關的利弊。

So we -- slippage and cancellations isn't always obvious. We've talked about that a lot. Definitely higher this year, but we're seeing a slowdown in cancellations. We definitely saw that third quarter. So pleased to see that.

所以，延誤和取消的情況並不總是顯而易見的。我們已經討論過很多次了。今年的取消率肯定更高，但我們看到取消率正在下降。我們在第三季確實看到了這一點。很高興看到這一點。

So it feels like things are normalizing. We're kind of getting back to pre-COVID cadence. We certainly want to finish the quarter and put it an apostrophe after that -- a period after that, I mean. So it's always part of the business, got more pronounced because that we had study volumes we're booking out 18, 24 months.

所以感覺一切正在恢復正常。我們差不多回到了新冠疫情之前的節奏。我們當然希望在本季結束後，再加一個撇號——我的意思是，再加一個句點。所以這一直是業務的一部分，而且由於我們的研究量已經預訂了18到24個月，所以變得更加明顯。

In some ways, that was really nice. In some ways, that was probably too long because we saw clients just booking slots that would not necessarily acknowledge that they had a study and often when they got to the point of actually committing, didn't have a study. So that's been a little bit disruptive.

從某些方面來說，這確實很棒。但從某些方面來說，這可能太長了，因為我們看到客戶只是預訂了一些時段，而這些時段並不一定承認他們已經進行了研究，而且通常到了他們真正承諾的時候，研究結果卻沒有出來。所以這有點令人困擾。

So we've got pretty good backlogs now. Not as long as they were, but not as short as they were years ago. Impossible to tell where that's going to settle out. But it's moving towards a better place with more predictability, more consistency and probably a more normal cancellation rate.

所以我們現在的積壓訂單量相當不錯。不像以前那麼長，但也不像幾年前那麼短了。目前還無法預測最終會如何收場。但情況正在好轉，更具可預測性，更加一致，取消率也可能更加正常。

I think Flavia will answer the other part of that question.

我認為弗拉維亞會回答這個問題的另一部分。

Elizabeth, on free cash flow, the quarter actually was pretty solid. We reported about 100 -- close to $140 million in -- that was up almost $80 million or 130% versus prior year, although last year was a relative slow base. For the year, cash flow is a little pressured. Some movement on working capital, receivables and inventory and timing of that, but I think it's still a very solid performance.

伊麗莎白，關於自由現金流，本季度實際上相當穩健。我們報告的自由現金流約為1億美元，接近1.4億美元，比上年增長了近8000萬美元，增幅達130%，儘管去年的基數相對較低。就今年而言，現金流略有壓力。營運資金、應收帳款、庫存以及時間安排方面有所變動，但我認為業績仍然非常穩健。

We actually have lowered our CapEx for the year a little bit. Our guidance, as you saw to reflect modulation of our investment in capacity given the current demand environment in Q3, CapEx was a little bit above 6% of sales which is below what we've been -- we told you all at Investor Day that our target would be of 7% to 8%.

實際上，我們今年的資本支出略有降低。如各位所見，為了反映我們在第三季當前需求環境下對產能投資的調整，我們的預期資本支出略高於銷售額的6%，低於我們之前的水平——我們在投資者日告訴過大家，我們的目標是7%到8%。

So I think we are navigating the current demand environment well, fortifying our performance, and we'll deliver solid free cash flow for the year.

因此，我認為我們正在很好地駕馭當前的需求環境，鞏固我們的業績，並將在今年實現穩健的自由現金流。

So you're not seeing an incremental slowdown in like pharma payments or biotech payments given the current environment? And then is that CapEx the way to think about things going forward? Just to double quick on two things you said there.

所以，考慮到目前的環境，您認為製藥或生技產業的付款不會放緩嗎？那麼，資本支出是未來發展的想法嗎？我再重複一下您剛才提到的兩點。

Yes. So I'll pass those two comments out. So we are not seeing any impact or any significant impact with regards to bad debt or any similar metrics of creditworthiness. There's nothing unusual and significant in the receivables side.

是的。我把這兩個意見傳達給大家。因此，我們沒有看到壞帳或任何類似的信用指標方面有任何影響，也沒有看到任何重大影響。應收帳款方面也沒有什麼異常或重大的進展。

And then from a capital perspective, we're not coming off of the 7% to 8% that we provided about 1.5 months ago. I'm just saying that relative to that, we were lower in the third quarter.

從資本角度來看，我們並沒有從大約一個半月前的7%到8%的水平上恢復過來。我只是說，相對於這個水平，我們第三季的資本回報率較低。

We will take our next question from Derik De Bruin with Bank of America.

我們將回答美國銀行的 Derik De Bruin 提出的下一個問題。

Jim, I appreciate the additional top line color on the NHPs. But I think the key question investors have is what's been the benefit from margins and EPS since 2019? And what happens when pricing goes back?

Jim，我很感謝你對非營利健康產品（NHP）的額外介紹。但我認為投資人最關心的問題是，自2019年以來，利潤率和每股盈餘帶來了哪些好處？以及當價格回落時會發生什麼事？

I mean, rough back of the envelope, and you can always check my math. It looks like it's about a $3 benefit this year to earnings, we're assuming the margins are similar, but I see they're accretive. I really think that would really help clear the air, if you just sort of like talked about what -- how you sort of think about pricing trends? I know it's not going to go back immediately to -- prices aren't going to fall back, but I do think this is like the one question that keeps coming up with investors is like, what does EPS looks like as NHP pricing normalizes?

我的意思是，粗略地算一下，你可以隨時查看我的計算。看起來，今年的利潤大約會增加3美元，我們假設利潤率差不多，但我認為它們是增值的。我真的認為，如果您能談談您對定價趨勢的看法，那真的有助於澄清事實。我知道價格不會立即回落，但我確實認為投資者一直在思考的一個問題是，隨著NHP定價正常化，每股盈餘會是什麼樣子？

Derik, it's Flavia, I'll start, and then Jim can comment.

德里克，我是弗拉維亞，我先開始，然後吉姆可以發表評論。

I think it's a little bit of an impossible when and if prices will come down. We have -- as I think we provided in our additional disclosures, price has been a benefit, but perhaps not as much of a benefit as people have predicted. We have diversified supply base, which helps mitigate and manage -- help us mitigate and manage through price fluctuations and volatility.

我認為價格何時下降以及是否會下降幾乎是不可能的。正如我們在補充披露中提到的，價格確實帶來了好處，但可能沒有人們預期的那麼大。我們擁有多元化的供應基礎，有助於我們緩解和管理價格波動和波動的影響。

As we said in our Investor Day, we have taken into consideration a modulation of pricing of NHP in our outlook. So we already took that into consideration as we provided you all our LRP numbers for the next 3 years.

正如我們在投資者日上所說，我們在展望中已經考慮了NHP定價的調整。因此，我們在提供未來三年所有LRP資料時，已經將這一點考慮在內。

I speak more than that. I don't know Derik, I have any additional comments. Jim?

我說的不只這些。我不認識 Derik，我還有其他評論嗎？ Jim？

I mean I think we got -- we've -- the prices have risen dramatically, some of that is reflected. Most of that is passed through. We think that the prices will flat, moderate perhaps, be reduced because there are sufficient numbers. We still think we'll get price besides the incremental price for NHPs as we have for the last few years and volume and mix as a result of the types of studies, what the duration is.

我的意思是，我認為我們已經——我們已經——價格大幅上漲，其中一些已經反映出來了。大部分上漲已經轉嫁出去了。我們認為價格將會持平，或許會溫和一些，甚至下降，因為數量已經夠多。我們仍然認為，除了像過去幾年那樣NHP價格上漲之外，價格還會上漲，而且數量和組合會受到研究類型和持續時間的影響。

So there's been a benefit, but I think it's more modest than people are thinking -- are anticipating. I think that's really all that we could say to -- we really like to stay away from pricing.

所以確實有好處，但我認為比人們想像的——預期的——要小得多。我想這就是我們能說的全部了——我們真的不想談價格。

Great. Okay. And just switching to something different as a follow-up. Can you sort of like quantify what the -- how much microbial was down in the business? And how much of that was China versus the rest of the world? And also, what was the impact to RMS from the NHP pushout to China in 3Q?

太好了。好的。接下來我想問其他問題。您能否量化一下－微生物業務的下滑幅度是多少？其中中國市場和世界其他地區分別佔了多少？另外，第三季 NHP 進軍中國市場對 RMS 有何影響？

Yes, so without giving you the actual numbers, the China NHP sales are not consistent. So they sort of shift from quarter-to-quarter. And so we'd like to look at that on an annual basis. So we're likely to see more of that happen in the fourth quarter. Some of that might slap over into 2024.

是的，雖然沒有給出實際數字，但中國NHP的銷售並不一致。每個季度的銷量都會有所波動。因此，我們希望以年度為單位來觀察。因此，我們很可能在第四季度看到更多類似的情況。其中一些可能會延續到2024年。

And the first part of your question was?

你的問題的第一部分是什麼？

Microbial.

微生物。

Microbial. So yes, several things working there, for sure, some impact from China. We have a small but not -- we have a small but profitable and interesting Chinese business, which has had just some difficulty in terms of supply. With local regulations that we should be moving past that.

微生物。所以，是的，那裡確實有一些工作，當然也有一些來自中國的影響。我們在中國有一個規模不大但盈利能力強且有趣的業務，只是在供應方面遇到了一些困難。根據當地法規，我們應該能夠克服這個問題。

Like many parts of the business, I mean, the Microbial business is providing a lot of release testing for drugs that are going into the clinic or have been approved, but require that law. That's a good news. Probably a less good news is that there's less drugs going through that testing modality these days. So that has some impact.

就像我們業務的許多部分一樣，微生物業務部門也為即將進入臨床或已獲批准但需要遵守相關法律的藥物提供大量放行測試。這是個好消息。但可能不太好的消息是，現在通過這種測試方式的藥物越來越少了。所以這會產生一些影響。

We also have clients that bought an awful lot of product from us at the end of last year. Of course, we don't know what the end of this year will be like, but it seems to be sort of an unloading of inventory or the fact that they stock up so much that they probably need less.

去年年底，有些客戶從我們這裡購買了大量產品。當然，我們不知道今年年底的情況會怎樣，但這似乎是某種庫存清倉，或者說他們囤貨太多，以至於實際需要的量可能減少了。

The business is an interesting inflection point with the recombinant products being available. I think it will take a while for us to get traction. But some aspect of our client base has been looking forward to there. We have a very good product. So we feel good about that. So a slightly slower growth rate than we would have liked, but I think that's kind of consistent with demand that we're seeing across the board, particularly from biotechs.

隨著重組產品的上市，這項業務正處於有趣的轉捩點。我認為我們還需要一段時間才能獲得發展動力。但我們的一些客戶群一直對此充滿期待。我們的產品非常好，所以我們對此感到很滿意。雖然成長率比我們預期的略低，但我認為這與我們看到的全面需求，尤其是來自生技公司的需求基本上一致。

Derik, just to add specifically on the NHP, it is just a modest headwind to the RMS revenue in the third quarter. We're not going to specify the amount, but it's a modest impact. And to Jim's point, while the Microbial China business is still relatively small, it has been growing nicely for us. So that slowdown does affect the Microbial growth rate.

Derik，我補充一下NHP的具體情況，這對RMS第三季的收入來說只是輕微的阻力。我們不會具體說明具體金額，但影響不大。正如Jim所說，雖然Microbial中國業務規模仍然相對較小，但對我們來說成長良好。所以，這種放緩確實會影響Microbial的成長率。

We will take our next question from Casey Woodring with JPMorgan.

我們將回答摩根大通的 Casey Woodring 提出的下一個問題。

So just a quick follow-up. I wanted to touch on the bookings. So did gross bookings grow sequentially? Or did cancellations just drop quarter-over-quarter? And then I just have one quickly on the revenue per NHP.

簡單跟進一下。我想談談預訂量。總預訂量是季增的嗎？還是取消量只是季減了？然後我快速問一下每名非會員飯店的收入。

It looks like if we use the numbers that you gave here, 30% of DSA revenue per year is exposed to NHPs. If you back out the implied, it looks like revenue per NHP grew close to 42% year-on-year in '23. Just how should we contemplate revenue per NHP on a forward-looking basis?

如果我們使用您在此處提供的數字，似乎每年 30% 的 DSA 收入來自非健康顧問 (NHP)。如果扣除隱含值，2023 年非健康顧問的單價收入年增近 42%。那麼，我們該如何從前瞻性的角度來看待非健康顧問的單價收入呢？

So I'll maybe take the question on cancellations and growth in that book-to-bill. So I think we also stated in our remarks, the cancellation level in the third quarter was the lowest that we had seen since the second quarter of 2022.

所以我想回答一下關於訂單取消量和訂單出貨比成長的問題。我想我們在發言中也提到過，第三季的訂單取消量是自2022年第二季以來的最低水準。

So I think we have been talking about a normalization of the domain environment, people going through their pipeline, reprioritization, and we had speculated that, that would eventually modulate. As Jim said, slippage and cancellation is a normal part of the business, but we had certainly seen a higher level of cancellations as the backlog expanded significantly at its peak to 17 months.

所以我認為我們一直在討論網域環境的常態化，人們會整理他們的流程，重新調整優先級，我們也曾推測，這種情況最終會得到調整。正如Jim所說，延誤和取消是業務的正常組成部分，但隨著積壓訂單在高峰期大幅增加到17個月，我們確實看到了更高水準的取消。

And so there was a lot of, I would say, rationalization and people prioritizing their compounds. The gross book-to-bill in the quarter was above 1, as we said. And so the lower cancellations did help improve the net book-to-bill sequentially in the third quarter versus the second quarter. So I hope that answers your question. And can you repeat the part about the NHP pricing?

所以，我想說，有很多合理化措施，人們優先考慮他們的化合物。正如我們所說，本季的總訂單出貨比超過了1。因此，較低的取消訂單確實有助於第三季淨訂單出貨比季比第二季有所改善。我希望這能回答你的問題。你能重複一下關於NHP定價的部分嗎？

Yes. It was just the less NHPs used this year has led to a lot higher amount of revenue per NHP. So just thinking about that on a forward-looking basis, just trends there? Any color around that trend?

是的。今年 NHP 的使用量減少，導致每個 NHP 的收入大幅增加。所以，從未來的角度來看，這其中有哪些趨勢？這種趨勢有什麼特色嗎？

Yes. Thanks for clarifying that. Yes. And the last NHP usage and still, on a relative basis, higher revenue is driven by the types of studies that we're conducting more so. As clients seem to be prioritizing post-IND work, we are seeing the impact of that into our study mix as well. And we do a significant amount of post-IND work. These studies are longer in nature.

是的，謝謝你澄清這一點。是的。最後，NHP 的使用，以及相對而言更高的收入，更多是由我們正在進行的研究類型所驅動。由於客戶似乎更重視 IND 後的工作，我們也看到了這對我們研究組合的影響。我們進行了大量 IND 後的工作。這些研究的周期更長。

And so from a mix perspective, they result in less units, but relatively higher revenue since you -- they last longer, as I said. So it really will depend on what happens with the demand. It's -- we -- if clients are going back to pre-IND work, you see a reversal of higher numbers of units being used. So it's hard for us to predict, at this point, given that we don't know our clients are going to be -- clients are going to be prioritizing their pipeline if they're focusing on pre- or post-IND studies.

因此，從組合角度來看，它們會導致單位數量減少，但收入相對較高，因為正如我所說，它們的使用壽命更長。所以這其實取決於需求的變化。如果客戶恢復到IND之前的工作，你會看到使用單位數量增加的逆轉。因此，目前我們很難預測，因為我們不知道客戶會優先考慮他們的研發管線，是專注於IND之前還是之後的研究。

We will take our next question from Patrick Donnelly with Citi.

我們將回答花旗銀行的 Patrick Donnelly 的下一個問題。

Flavia, maybe one for you, just on the margin side. Gross margins came in a little light. I mean was that just to do with the lower Manufacturing side? And then you guys obviously offset that with the SG&A being quite a bit lower. Can you just talk about, I guess, the moving pieces on those two and the right way to think about them going forward?

弗拉維亞，也許我想問你一個問題，就利潤率方面來說。毛利率略低。我的意思是，這僅僅是因為製造業務的利潤較低嗎？顯然，你們的銷售、一般及行政費用（SG&A）也低了不少，從而抵消了這一影響。你能不能談談這兩家業務的變動，以及未來如何正確看待它們？

Sure. So yes, the gross margin was dominant. You saw and appropriately pointed manufacturing. And also as we commented, RMS was a little bit impacted by the domain environment with the growth slowing down to about 3% versus last quarter, putting aside the timing of shipment of NHPs.

當然。所以，是的，毛利率占主導地位。您看到並適當地指出了製造業。而且正如我們所評論的，RMS 受到網域環境的一點影響，撇開 NHP 的出貨時間不談，其成長速度與上一季相比放緩至約 3%。

So those two businesses were pressured in margin and our ability to leverage fixed overhead. We did have the benefit in G&A, and I talked in my prepared remarks about the impact of our vPPA. So you put it all together, DSA had another strong margin quarter for us with operating margin expanding 100 basis points year-over-year.

因此，這兩項業務的利潤率和我們利用固定成本的能力都受到了壓力。我們在一般及行政管理方面確實有所優勢，而且我在準備好的發言中也談到了虛擬購電協議 (vPPA) 的影響。綜合來看，DSA 為我們帶來了又一個利潤率強勁的季度，營業利潤率年增了 100 個基點。

So in total, we were about 10 points -- excuse me, 10 bps better at 20.5% versus Q2 as well as prior year. And there's a little bit of mix of businesses there. As I also indicated in my prepared remarks, we are -- as I would expect, remaining disciplined in ensuring that we adjust our footprint and our infrastructure to the current demand environment.

所以總的來說，我們的成長率大約提高了10個基點——不好意思，是10個基點，比第二季和去年同期都高出20.5%。而且我們業務範圍比較廣。正如我在準備好的演講稿中所提到的，正如我所料，我們將繼續嚴格遵守紀律，確保根據當前的需求環境調整我們的業務佈局和基礎設施。

We have implemented some restructurings that will -- when all completed, will translate into annualized savings of about $40 million. And so if you think about the margin as we are rightsizing our businesses to the current demand environment, there's a little bit of a lag in terms of when you're going to see the benefit of these actions.

我們已經實施了一些重組措施，全部完成後，將轉化為約4000萬美元的年度節餘。因此，考慮到我們根據當前需求環境調整業務規模所帶來的利潤率，這些措施的效益在何時顯現會略有滯後。

But I think we commented that we expect -- continue to expect OI to be flat to slightly down versus last year. And we provided some insights to you all in our Investor Day in terms of what we expect for the next 3 years in terms of margin expansion.

但我認為我們之前提到過，我們預計持倉利潤率將與去年持平或略有下降。我們在投資者日上也向大家分享了一些關於未來三年利潤率成長預期的見解。

Okay. No, that's helpful. And then maybe just one more quick one on the gross bookings side. Can you just help us think about what the gross book-to-bill was last quarter? Again, just trying to kind of feel out the numbers here without the cancellations on the gross bookings side. I appreciate it.

好的。不，這很有幫助。然後，關於總預訂量，我再快速問一下。您能幫我們算一下上個季度的總訂單出貨比是多少嗎？再說一次，只是想在不考慮取消訂單的情況下，估算一下總預訂量方面的數字。非常感謝。

Yes. So we haven't disclosed a specific number. What we have said is gross. Book-to-bill has been above 1 in Q3 as well as Q2. So it continues to be above. And as I said to an earlier question, what influence the net book-to-bill to be sequentially up in the third quarter versus the second quarter was the fact that cancellations were lower in the third quarter.

是的。所以我們沒有透露具體的數字。我們說的是總額。訂單出貨比在第三季和第二季都超過了1。所以現在還在繼續保持這個數字。正如我之前回答問題時所說，第三季淨訂單出貨比環比第二季上升的原因在於第三季的訂單取消量較低。

We will take our next question from Dave Windley with Jefferies.

我們將回答 Jefferies 的 Dave Windley 提出的下一個問題。

I wanted to try to follow up on a couple of prior questions. So on the kind of Casey's question, I guess, on the revenue per NHP implied. Flavia, I understand your point about -- I think you're talking about like maybe long-term CAR studies or something of that sort that are -- that run longer without needing more animals. Is that the exclusive impact? Or is there also like a reuse that's not in the -- I'm thinking if you have 11,000 unique animals, for example, and then there are also some reuses of those animals, that would also have the effect of lowering that revenue per annum. I just want to make sure I understand the various contributors to these numbers that you've disclosed this morning.

我想嘗試跟進幾個之前的問題。關於Casey的問題，我想是關於每隻NHP隱含的收入。 Flavia，我理解你的意思——我想你指的是長期CAR研究或類似的東西——它們可以持續更長時間，而不需要更多動物。這是唯一的影響嗎？或者，是否有重複使用的情況——例如，如果你有11,000只獨特的動物，然後這些動物也有一些重複使用，這也會降低每年的收入。我只是想確保我理解你今天早上披露的這些數字的各種影響因素。

Sure, David. Yes, the primary impact is your first point. Yes, it's card studies, repro studies, those tend to last longer. So we can still get the same revenue with less units. So that's the primary driver. And those types of studies, all post-IND, they were up significantly in Q3. And they have been up sort of Q3 year-to-date versus last year as well. So that, again, goes back to my earlier point of clients prioritizing post-IND work.

當然，David。是的，主要影響就是你提到的第一點。是的，卡片研究、複製研究，這些研究通常持續時間更長。所以我們可以用更少的單位來獲得相同的收入。所以這是主要驅動力。所有這些類型的研究，包括IND之後的研究，在第三季都大幅成長。而且今年第三季迄今為止，它們與去年相比也一直在成長。所以，這又回到了我之前提到的，客戶優先考慮IND之後的工作。

So we have a reduction in numbers of NHPs use, with a meaningful amount of revenue associated with those just because of studies that have much higher value go much longer and are really essential to be getting drugs through the clinic. So a little bit of a shift at least for this year. It's difficult to say how long , but we usually have a pretty good balance between the IND files and post-IND work, but that's a really good explanation for why the units are down.

因此，我們使用的NHP數量有所減少，而這些NHP帶來的收入卻相當可觀，這僅僅是因為那些價值更高、持續時間更長、對藥物進入臨床至關重要的研究。所以至少今年的情況會有所轉變。很難說會持續多久，但我們通常在IND申請和IND後工作之間保持著相當好的平衡，但這很好地解釋了為什麼數量會減少。

Got it. Okay. Jim, on the -- there are a couple of comments, I think, in the deck this morning about kind of technology references. I know in the past, the general view has been that as much as we'd like to be able to spare animals or shift to virtual technologies, in silico technologies, that those are probably a long way off.

明白了。好的。吉姆，關於——我想今天早上的演講稿裡有幾個關於技術的評論。我知道過去普遍的觀點是，儘管我們希望能夠拯救動物，或轉向虛擬技術，或電腦技術，但這些可能還很遙遠。

One of your lines in the deck this morning kind of references that like maybe there's a little bit more promise there. And I wanted to -- and kind of that we're going to lead the industry context. I wondered if you'd comment on that is, am I over reading that?

您今天早上在演講中提到，或許還有更多希望。我想說的是──我們將引領產業發展。您對此有何評論？我是不是有點過度解讀了？

No. I'm glad you asked that, Dave. So Charles River has a responsibility to utilize alternative [adjunct] technologies to the extent that they actually exist and work. Regulators and clients will embrace that. And they'll give us decent information.

不。很高興你問這個問題，戴夫。所以，Charles River 有責任盡可能地利用現有的、有效的替代[輔助]技術。監管機構和客戶都會接受這一點。他們也會提供我們可靠的資訊。

And so as the largest provider of research models and as the largest [drugs] company, we have to lead and we intend to lead. So we have multiple investments, relatively small, except for one multiple investments and a whole bunch of different technologies, particularly AI, next-generation sequencing, 3D modeling would be once it come to mind immediately.

因此，作為最大的研究模型提供者和最大的[製藥]公司，我們必須引領，而且我們也決心引領。因此，除了一項投資外，我們還有多項投資，規模相對較小，涵蓋了一系列不同的技術，尤其是人工智慧、新一代定序和3D建模，這些技術是我們立刻想到的。

I met with a company yesterday that's in the AI field, so that's probably going to be another one. And it's impossible to tell how much traction we'll get, but I do think that there's a fair amount of work being done right now. And I can see it sooner than later in discovery, and we can see it sooner than later in helping the clients identify a lead compound and moving away from other drugs that we're working on that probably don't show efficacy and being able to do that with nonanimal technologies or less animals. And hopefully, that would speed up the whole process of them moving towards the clinic. So we feel really good about that.

我昨天見了一家人工智慧領域的公司，所以他們很可能也會是另一家。我們無法預測最終會取得多大的進展，但我確實認為目前已經有相當多的工作正在進行中。我很快就能看到它在藥物發現階段的進展，我們很快就能看到它在幫助客戶找到先導化合物，並擺脫我們正在研發的其他可能沒有顯示出療效的藥物，並且能夠利用非動物技術或更少的動物實驗來實現這一點。希望這能加快藥物進入臨床階段的整個進程。所以我們對此感到非常高興。

Dave, I couldn't guess how far away this is, but I think we'll see some of the discovery impact. And I think -- we think that's beneficial for the industry and for us sometime maybe in the next 5 years. I don't think it will be substantial. But I do think it will be real.

戴夫，我無法預測這還有多久才會實現，但我認為我們會看到一些發現的影響。而且我認為——我們認為這對產業和我們自己都有利，也許在未來五年內。我不認為這會是實質的，但我確實認為它會成為現實。

To the extent to which those technologies work, those are likely to be companies that we buy or technologies that we license. And never is a long time, so I won't use the word never, but from everybody that we speak to, we think it's highly unlikely that you're going to see any post-sale replacement of animals and classic toxicology just because it's all about safety in a wholly animal model appears to be the best use -- the best way to do that, but -- and so the extent to which the nonanimal technologies ever get any traction (inaudible) , I think -- we think that's way off.

就這些技術的實際效果而言，我們很可能會收購一些公司或獲得授權。 「永遠」指的是一個漫長的時間，所以我不會用「永遠」這個詞，但從我們採訪的每個人的情況來看，我們認為，售後研究不太可能取代動物和傳統毒理學，因為完全動物模型的安全性似乎是最佳選擇——也是最佳途徑。但是，至於非動物模型技術最終能獲得多大程度的關注（聽不清楚），我認為──我們還無法確定。

Having said that, we're just going to do a lot of work, Dave, in all of this stuff. Study it, write about it, utilize it, talk to our clients about it, talk with regulators about it and make multiple shots on goal with these potentially valuable technologies to see what really has traction.

話雖如此，戴夫，我們還是會在所有這些方面投入大量精力。我們會研究它、撰寫文章、利用它、與客戶溝通、與監管機構溝通，並利用這些具有潛在價值的技術進行多次嘗試，看看哪些技術真正具有吸引力。

So we're going to continue to talk about it because we do think it's important. We do think it's possible in some domain, and we do think that if anybody is going to lead it, it really needs to be us.

所以我們將繼續討論這個問題，因為我們確實認為它很重要。我們確實認為它在某些領域是可能的，我們也確實認為，如果有人要領導它，那一定就是我們。

Got it. Relatedly, one of the other areas that you had hoped, I think, to lead on was around this parentage testing and prominence of animals. Is that still relevant? Or is that kind of faded and not strategically relevant anymore?

明白了。順便提一下，我想您之前希望領導的另一個領域是親子鑑定和動物保護。這方面現在還重要嗎？還是說，它已經逐漸淡化，不再具有戰略意義了？

I think that directionally, that's going to be important, not just for regulators regardless of the country, but for ourselves just to know that and for our clients just to make sure that these animals are purpose bred.

我認為從方向上看，這一點很重要，不僅對於任何國家的監管機構來說都很重要，對我們自己來說也很重要，對我們的客戶來說也很重要，以確保這些動物是經過專門飼養的。

So yes, it's going to be sort of slow going to get kind of a sense from government agencies that they like what we're doing. We actually found several places that we could do this on a cost-effective basis and really sort of nail down the fact that those animals are as we desire.

所以，是的，要讓政府機構認可我們的做法，這得花點時間。我們實際上找到了幾個地方，既經濟實惠，又能確保這些動物符合我們的期望。

We got out really fast working on it. I think the government is going to be a little more slow in their uptake of even having a conversation with us. But I do think that's something that again, Dave, that I think it's essential. I think we have to -- have the leadership position there.

我們很快就著手處理此事。我認為政府的反應會慢一些，甚至連跟我們對話都做不到。但戴夫，我確實認為這很重要。我認為我們必須——在這方面發揮領導作用。

I think that, that -- it's not very complicated by the way. As you know, we have this whole -- the whole being able to identify the genetics -- genome of -- these specific animals is relatively straightforward science. It's a lot of animals, so it's not trivial from a cost point of view. But I think we can do it cost effectively and whatever it is other who are going to -- or pass it on. So -- yes, still, I would say, in the background, Dave, but we'll get back to it at some point, for sure.

順便說一句，我認為這並不複雜。如你所知，我們擁有一套完整的方案──能夠辨識這些特定動物的基因──基因組──是一門相對簡單的科學。動物種類繁多，所以從成本角度來看並非易事。但我認為我們可以經濟高效地做到這一點，無論其他人打算如何——或者將其傳承下去。所以——是的，戴夫，我想說，現在還在幕後，但我們肯定會在某個時候再談這個問題。

We will take our next question from Justin Bowers with Deutsche Bank.

我們將回答德意志銀行的賈斯汀·鮑爾斯 (Justin Bowers) 提出的下一個問題。

So with booking -- a 2-parter for me. With the bookings stabilized and sort of if I look at the revenue and safety assessment for the first 3 quarters, does that seem like sort of a good run rate like on the go forward?

那麼關於預訂，我分兩部分來看。預訂量穩定下來後，如果我看一下前三個季度的收入和安全評估，這看起來是不是像是一個不錯的運行率？

And I just -- if I look at what the guidance implies for 4Q, for example, and we adjust for the extra week last year, it sort of gets DSA revenues flat, plus or minus Q-over-Q. So that's the first one. And then just with the improvement in the bookings that you're seeing, and I understand flow of cancellations.

我只是——例如，如果我看一下第四季度的指引，並根據去年額外的一周進行調整，那麼DSA收入基本上持平，環比略有波動。這是第一個。然後，隨著您看到的預訂量有所改善，我理解取消預訂的情況。

Is there any way to parse that out in terms of the nature of those cancellations and how it's sort of improved? Is it like -- is it more less of the empty rooms versus programs that are in flight being canceled? Just any additional color there would be helpful.

有沒有辦法分析一下這些取消航班的性質以及情況是如何改善的？是空房間數量減少，還是航班上取消的航班數量減少？如果能提供更多細節就更好了。

The reduction cancellation is a good thing. I hope people are getting that. Because of capacity limitations, demand, availability of everything, including NHPs, and funding seemingly being better whatever last year and the year before. I think we had clients that were really worried that they wouldn't get a slot. And so they booked way out, which is -- some of that was good news and some of that was just booking a slot without a study. So that's disruptive, particularly when you get to the point of planning to set aside a certain number of animals and a certain cadre of staff, and then people cancel and yes, they have a penalty when they cancel it. That was really great.

減少取消是好事。我希望大家能理解。由於容量限制、需求、所有東西（包括NHP）的可用性，以及資金似乎比去年和前年都更好。我想我們有些客戶真的很擔心他們拿不到名額。所以他們提前預訂了名額，這部分是好消息，部分只是預訂了名額，卻沒有進行研究。所以這會造成混亂，尤其是當你打算預留一定數量的動物和一定數量的工作人員時，然後有人取消了，是的，取消後他們會受到處罰。這真的很棒。

So I think the normalization of cancellation, which, by the way, isn't always. Cancellation slippage is an obvious, is really a good thing. We're getting back to probably pre-COVID levels. And as we said a couple of times already, it's always been there. And that's in the calculus of our forecasting and our guidance and how we plan for headcount and allocation [capital]

所以我認為取消訂單的正常化——順便說一句，這種情況並非總是如此——是顯而易見的，但實際上是一件好事。我們可能正在恢復到新冠疫情之前的水平。正如我們已經說過幾次的那樣，這種情況一直存在。這體現在我們的預測、指引以及員工人數和資本配置規劃。

So I think that's actually a good thing. I would stop short of sort of trying to quantify what the growth rate of the Safety Assessment business is on a forward-going basis. We -- it's a business where -- we continue to be the market leader. We continue to get some price. We continue to get a significant amount of volume. I think we just said that we have a lot of stuff moving into this post-IND phase, which is fine, but we want both.

所以我認為這實際上是一件好事。我不想試圖量化安全評估業務未來的成長率。我們——這是一個——我們繼續保持市場領先地位的業務。我們繼續獲得一些價格。我們繼續獲得大量的銷量。我想我們剛才說過，我們有很多產品正在進入IND後階段，這很好，但我們希望兩者兼得。

Obviously, we're doing some IND work as well. But it's important that we have both long-term studies and short-term studies. And I think what's happening is we're going to have a slow normalization of demand. We have a second quarter where biotech funding is pretty good. VC funding is fabulous. A lot of money coming in from pharmaceutical companies.

顯然，我們也正在進行一些臨床試驗（IND）工作。但重要的是，我們既要進行長期研究，也要進行短期研究。我認為目前的情況是，我們的需求將會緩慢恢復正常。第二季度，生技融資情況相當不錯。創投也非常可觀。來自製藥公司的資金非常多。

And so companies, as you've heard us say before, that have good drugs for unmet medical needs will get funded, and they don't all have to come to us, but lots of them will come to us. So we feel optimistic about the demand going forward. As I said earlier, we stand behind those 3-year guidance numbers that we gave at our Investor Day. The sort of speed and cadence of all of this is not particularly clear. It hopefully will be a little more clear as we finish this quarter, and talk to you folks in February about specific guidance for next year.

因此，正如大家之前所說，那些擁有優質藥物以滿足未滿足醫療需求的公司將獲得資金，它們不必全部來找我們，但許多公司都會來找我們。因此，我們對未來的需求感到樂觀。正如我之前所說，我們堅持在投資者日上給出的三年指引數字。所有這些進展的速度和節奏目前尚不明確。希望在本季結束並於2月與大家討論明年的具體指引時，情況會更加明朗。

And we can maybe follow up with you later on the DSA revenue for the fourth quarter, just -- to make sure that we get the math correct. When we provided guidance by segment, it's on an organic basis. And so the DSA, at high-single digits for the year, the fourth quarter there would imply probably a negative growth in the fourth quarter.

我們稍後可能會跟進您關於第四季度DSA收入的後續情況，以確保我們的計算準確。我們按部門提供指引時，是基於有機成長的。因此，如果第四季度DSA收入為高個位數，則可能意味著第四季度出現負成長。

And again, to remind everybody, we had an extraordinary fourth quarter in 2022 with 26.5% growth for DSA. So there's a bit of comps there that impacts it. So I don't know if it's the impact of the 53rd week when you did your math.

再次提醒大家，2022年第四季我們的DSA成長了26.5%，表現非常出色。所以這其中有一些可比較數據的影響。所以我不知道這是否是你計算的第53週的影響。

Yes. I was looking -- I was referring more sequentially versus year-over-year, but happy to work through that offline.

是的。我指的是環比成長，而不是年成長，但我很樂意透過線下管道來解決這個問題。

Sequentially, you're right. It should be flattish.

順序上，你是對的。它應該是平的。

We'll take our next question from Dan Leonard with UBS.

我們將回答瑞銀的 Dan Leonard 提出的下一個問題。

I want to make sure I fully understand the direction of travel here in DSA, and I appreciate all the color on gross bookings. But specifically, I'd like your thoughts on at what point is the continued weakness in discovery impact your outlook for safety?

我想確保我完全了解DSA的旅行方向，也感謝大家對總預訂量的各種解讀。但具體來說，我想請您談談，發現航空的持續疲軟將在何時影響您對安全的展望？

Hardly at all. So I understand why you asked the question. So our strategy and goal is very much that Discovery is a feeder for safety. So that's obviously the essence of your question and a fair one. It's a trivial part of the DSA revenue right now. Although we love the business, and we have good science and good parts and pieces, we're in an air pocket right now, but that's going to be transitory.

幾乎沒有。所以我理解你為什麼要問這個問題。我們的策略和目標很大程度上是讓發現號成為安全的支撐點。這顯然是你問題的本質，而且問得對。目前，它只是DSA收入中微不足道的一部分。雖然我們熱愛這項業務，而且我們擁有優秀的科學技術和優質的零件，但我們目前處於困境之中，但這只是暫時的。

To sort of refresh my answer to your question, if Discovery is rocking that's beneficial to our safety business, particularly if we hold on to work. And just generally speaking. But I would say that it's kind of a tale of two cities. Our safety business is actually in this kind of funky economic environment is performing extremely well.

讓我重新回答你的問題：如果發現號表現良好，這對我們的安全業務有利，尤其是如果我們能堅持下去的話。總的來說是這樣。但我想說，這有點像是「雙城記」。我們的安全業務實際上在這種不穩定的經濟環境下表現得非常好。

We're getting price and share and lots of big studies and our capacity is well utilized when I say capacity, both people and space. So as you think about the future, which I assume you are and if you assume that Discovery is air pocket, continues, and I don't know whether that's true or not.

我們的價格、市場份額和大量大型研究都在上漲，而且我們的產能得到了充分利用——我所說的產能，包括人員和空間。所以，當你思考未來時，我假設你是這樣想的，如果你假設發現號是空穴，它會繼續運行，我不知道這是否正確。

It will matter. It won't really fundamentally affect the size and scope and growth rate and our margin profile for the Safety Assessment business. And if it comes back strong, which, by the way, can on very short notice or no notice, it just would be beneficial and add some incremental revenue to the sector. Also has I guess last -- it also has good margins.

這很重要。它不會從根本上影響我們安全評估業務的規模、範圍、成長率和利潤率。如果它強勢復甦——順便說一句，這可能在很短的時間內或沒有通知的情況下——那將會帶來益處，並為該部門增加一些增量收入。我想最後還有一點——它的利潤率也不錯。

So I don't want you to forget that even though it's slower than we would certainly like the Discovery business has gotten nicely profitable. had wonderful growth rate last year, the year before and the year before that. And I think we're holding our own very well. But it's just -- it's very simple. You've got clients, big and small, emphasizing post-IND preclinical work and clinical work just because they have to get some drugs to market to generate more revenue.

所以我不想讓你們忘記，儘管成長速度比我們預期的要慢，但發現業務的獲利能力確實不錯。去年、前年和前年都實現了驚人的成長。我認為我們保持了良好的勢頭。但這很簡單。我們的客戶，無論大小，都重視新藥臨床試驗申請（IND）後的臨床前工作和臨床工作，因為他們必須將一些藥物推向市場才能創造更多收入。

That's -- and that's sort of an always-always. But if they don't spend money on Discovery, which, of course, is what they do, what biotech only does, they don't spend money on Discovery, then they'll have nothing whatever, 2 years, 3 years, 1 year from now in the clinic.

這……這幾乎是永遠的。但是，如果他們不把錢花在發現號上——當然，這正是他們做的事情，生物技術公司只做這件事——他們不把錢花在發現號上，那麼從現在起的兩年、三年、甚至一年後，他們在臨床上都將一無所獲。

So it's not our opinion. It's a certainty that the pendulum has to swing back a little bit difficult to call because it's definitely related to funding and the overall economy. And I think it's related to that much less being related to the strength of the scientific modalities, which are going to be quite powerful. We got some really great drugs with these companies we're working on that are better life saving.

所以這不是我們的觀點。鐘擺肯定會擺回來，但很難預測，因為這肯定與資金和整體經濟狀況有關。我認為這與資金和整體經濟狀況的關係遠不如與科學方法的強度關係密切，因為科學方法的強度將會非常強大。我們與這些公司合作開發了一些非常有效的藥物，可以更好地挽救生命。

So we'll watch. We'll let you know as soon as Discovery begins to come back. And as I said a moment ago, it will come back sort of surprisingly fast. Studies are short. We don't give a lot of notice on them. The turnaround time is pretty good, so is the pricing.

所以我們會密切注意。一旦發現號恢復運行，我們會立即通知您。正如我剛才所說，它恢復的速度會快得驚人。研究週期很短，我們不會事先通知。它的周轉時間很短，價格也合理。

Appreciate that clarification, Jim. And if it's possible to ask an unrelated follow-up. I was hoping you could frame proportionately how much of your manufacturing business is driven by commercial products versus early-stage products that might be more subject to the reprioritization that you talked about on the call?

感謝你的澄清，Jim。如果可以的話，我可以問一個無關的後續問題。我希望你能按比例說明一下，你們的製造業務中，有多少是由商業產品驅動的，有多少是由早期產品驅動的，而早期產品可能更容易受到你在電話會議上提到的重新排序的影響？

Good question. So the CDMO business is all pretty much all clinical. Actually -- so it's not manufacturing that stuff. So it's a little bit different than the rest. Yes, I mean, a big piece of Microbial is to lot release for commercial products. So yes, for sure. As less stuff goes through the pipeline as less stuff is approved as they're trying to spend money in the clinic and maybe manufacture less of their other products. It slows down a little bit.

問得好。 CDMO業務幾乎全是臨床業務。實際上——它不生產那些東西。所以它和其他業務有點不同。是的，我的意思是，微生物業務很大一部分是商業產品的批發。所以是的，肯定是的。由於他們試圖在臨床上投入資金，其他產品的生產量可能也會減少，所以進入流程的產品也越來越少，獲得批准的產品也越來越少。業務量會稍微放緩。

Similarly, with biologics, that's also -- we have to test those drugs before they go into the clinic. So just so I don't confuse you, yes, a lot of stuff is focused on the clinic and going into the clinic, but less than they would otherwise like to go into the clinic just because they care.

同樣，對於生物製劑，我們也必須在它們進入臨床之前進行測試。所以，為了避免混淆，我確實有很多研究專注於臨床，並最終進入臨床，但比起他們原本願意僅僅因為關心就進入臨床的藥物來說，還是少了一些。

But we talked about the reprioritization of their pipelines. So even big companies, big pharma, who is well financed, has budgets and they're very tight on the budgets, both in terms of headcount and other things. So we've definitely seen just a conservatism on the part of almost our entire client base who has -- they have really good portfolios.

但我們談到了他們產品線的重新排序。即使是資金雄厚的大公司，例如大型製藥公司，也有預算，他們的預算非常緊張，無論是在員工人數還是其他方面。所以我們幾乎在所有擁有優質產品組合的客戶群中都看到了保守的跡象。

They are just not developing and prosecuting their entire portfolios, maybe the way they did in '21 and '22. Again, it's all transitory. So as stuff gets through the clinic and into the market, and when the economy feels better for these folks, I'm not an economist, so I have my own opinion -- not useful on this call. I do think we'll start to see a lot more spending in discovery. But to answer your question specifically, you'll see a lot more testing of commercial products and products about to go into the clinic.

他們只是沒有像2021年和2022年那樣開發和執行他們的全部產品組合。再說一次，這一切都是暫時的。所以，當產品從臨床階段進入市場，當經濟狀況對這些人來說有所好轉時，我不是經濟學家，所以我有自己的看法——但這在這次電話會議上可能沒有用。我確實認為我們將開始看到在藥物研發方面的支出大幅增加。但具體回答你的問題，你會看到更多對商業產品和即將進入臨床的產品進行測試。

We will take our next question from Tejas Savant with Morgan Stanley.

我們將回答摩根士丹利的 Tejas Savant 提出的下一個問題。

Maybe one on RMS. More of a cleanup really. Flavia, can you parse out that 460 bps decline in RMS margin across the NHP timing in China and the academic in-sourcing mix? I know you mentioned it was mainly the latter as far as top line growth. So is it fair to assume that, that sort of flows through to the margin sort of dynamic as well? And over what time frame do you expect to see a little bit of help from exiting the lower margin and sourcing contracts? I mean, is that a 2024 dynamic? Or is that more '25 and beyond?

也許是關於RMS的一個。實際上更多的是清理工作。 Flavia，您能否分析一下RMS利潤率下降460個基點的原因，這涉及到NHP在中國的銷售時間和學術內包組合的影響？我知道您提到，就營收成長而言，主要是後者的影響。那麼，是否可以假設這種影響也會影響到利潤率的動態？您預計在什麼時間內，退出低利潤率的採購合約和內包合約會帶來一些幫助？我的意思是，這是2024年的動態，還是2025年及以後？

Tejas, so the RMS impact, both on top line as well as margin was a combination, as I said, of the lack of significant shipments of NHPs in China as well as a mix of businesses in our RMS segment.

Tejas，因此，正如我所說，RMS 對營業收入和利潤率的影響是中國 NHP 出貨量不足以及 RMS 部門業務組合的綜合作用。

As you pointed out, we had a higher growth of some of the lower -- on a relative basis, lower margin subsegments within RMS. So we expect that to continue into the fourth quarter. We're seeing, from a demand perspective, more resilience on the larger pharmaceutical clients and government contracts. So that plays into the margin.

正如您所指出的，RMS 內部一些利潤率相對較低的細分市場成長較快。因此，我們預計這種成長態勢將持續到第四季。從需求角度來看，我們看到大型製藥客戶和政府合約的韌性更強。這對利潤率有所影響。

And then in the fourth quarter, though, we will have NHP shipments. So the margin for RMS will pick up in the fourth quarter. I think we had telegraphed it or signaled that in Q3, we weren't going to have any meaningful shipments and therefore, the margin was going to come down.

不過，第四季我們將有NHP出貨。因此，RMS的利潤率將在第四季回升。我想我們已經暗示過，或者說暗示過，第三季我們的出貨量不會有任何顯著成長，因此利潤率將會下降。

So again, this is consistent with what we have been expecting. As far as the government contracts that we expect that we announced in the Investor Day, that are lower margin and that we would be exiting will likely start in the 2024 horizon.

所以，這與我們的預期一致。至於我們在投資者日宣布的那些利潤率較低的政府合同，我們預計將在2024年左右開始執行。

Got it. That's super helpful. And then one on just the margin outlook here on a go-forward basis. Jim, I mean, obviously, you mentioned in your prepared remarks, manufacturing support is the biggest driver of margin expansion.

明白了。這非常有幫助。接下來是關於未來利潤率的展望。 Jim，我的意思是，顯然，你在準備好的發言中提到，製造業支持是利潤率擴張的最大驅動力。

Just in light of the 3Q headwinds here, what flattish margins next year be a fair additional assumption? I know it's a complex environment, but you also called out RMS seeing a little bit of macro headwinds here beyond China NHPs. So just any directional color for [Scott] sort of on 2024 margin trajectory would be super helpful.

考慮到第三季的不利因素，明年利潤率持平的合理額外假設是多少？我知道這是一個複雜的環境，但您也提到了RMS除了中國非處方藥業務外，還看到了一些宏觀不利因素。所以，[Scott] 2024年利潤率走勢的任何方向性資訊都將非常有幫助。

I know it would be super helpful, but I have to wait until February to get that clarity, but I appreciate you asking.

我知道這會非常有幫助，但我必須等到二月才能弄清楚，但我很感謝你的詢問。

Tejas, I would say, though, we still feel good about the 150 bps over a 3-year period that we shared with all of you during Investor Day. The timing of that, as Jim said, it's not linear in that 3-year horizon. And obviously, the main environment will play into that as we go into 2024. But we also, as I indicated in my prepared remarks, have also appropriately adjusted or started to ensure we are appropriately reflective of the current demand environment with some of the actions that we took already this year. So I'll let you take those pieces and make your estimates for 2024 until we provide guidance in February.

不過，我想說，Tejas，我們仍然對我們在投資者日與大家分享的三年期150個基點的利率目標感到滿意。正如Jim所說，利率目標的時機並非在三年期限內呈線性變化。顯然，隨著2024年的到來，主要環境因素將對此產生影響。但正如我在準備好的演講稿中指出的那樣，我們也已進行適當調整，或已開始確保我們今年已經採取的一些行動能夠恰當地反映當前的需求環境。因此，在我們2月提供指引之前，我會讓各位根據這些因素來估算2024年的利率目標。

We will take our next question from Max Smock with William Blair.

我們將回答 William Blair 的 Max Smock 提出的下一個問題。

To start, maybe I'll try to get at Derik's question from a lot earlier here, just in a different way. So your disclosures imply about $780 million of NHP-related revenue in 2023. How do the margins associated with this NHP work compared to your DSA operating margins this year? And how have the margins on that NHP were changed over the last few years as a result of the pricing increases on the NHP side?

首先，我想換個方式來回答Derik之前提出的問題。您的揭露暗示2023年NHP相關收入約為7.8億美元。與今年DSA的營運利潤率相比，這部分NHP的利潤率如何？過去幾年，由於NHP價格上漲，這部分NHP的利潤率發生了哪些變化？

And then in terms of assumptions are moving forward, I'd be curious to hear your take on what you actually have baked in for margins on NHP work as part of your midterm guide here, given your comments about pricing normalizing some here as we move forward.

然後，就假設的進展而言，鑑於您對未來價格正常化的評論，我很想聽聽您對作為中期指南的一部分，NHP 工作利潤率的實際影響的看法。

So maybe I'll start, and Jim can add. And I think I've -- we commented on this over the last several quarters. NHP work, on a relative basis, has slightly higher margins than some of the other species works that we do. They tend to be more complex, sometimes longer. And so there is a mix impact that has been favorable as biologics had grown, and that drives higher demand for NHP work within our total study species work that we do.

所以也許我先開始，Jim 可以補充一下。我想我們已經——在過去幾個季度就這個問題發表過評論。相對而言，非人靈長類動物研究的利潤率略高於我們所進行的其他一些物種研究。這些研究往往更複雜，有時耗時更長。因此，隨著生物製劑業務的成長，混合效應一直很有利，這推動了我們進行的物種研究總量中對非人靈長類動物研究的需求增加。

So that has been a tailwind. We don't know if that will continue or not, but that is unrelated to the discussions that we've been having on price. And I think maybe, Jim, if you want to add some comments.

所以這對我們來說是一個順風。我們不知道這種情況是否會持續下去，但這與我們一直在討論的價格問題無關。吉姆，我想你或許可以補充一些意見。

I think that's all.

我想就這些了。

Okay. Perfect. And then maybe just following up on Dan's question from a couple of minutes ago here. You mentioned the slowdown in Discovery doesn't change your strategy in preclinical. But I just wanted to confirm that I heard you right, that we're not close to the point where the slowdown in Discovery that we've seen over the last couple of quarters here starts to impact gross bookings and Safety Assessment. And then ultimately, gets -- works like the pipeline towards the clinical stage.

好的，非常好。接下來我想繼續回答丹幾分鐘前的問題。您提到發現號的放緩不會改變你們在臨床前階段的策略。但我只是想確認一下，我理解的沒錯，我們還沒有接近過去幾季發現號的放緩開始影響總訂單量和安全評估的程度。最終，就像進入臨床階段的研發管線。

Like when do you think do we get to that point? And when should we start to get concerned? I guess, at the slowdown we've seen in Discovery will start to impact preclinical more heavily and eventually clinical trial demand?

您覺得我們什麼時候會達到這個水準？什麼時候我們該開始擔心？我猜，Discovery 的放緩會更嚴重地影響臨床前研究，並最終影響臨床試驗的需求？

Don't be concerned. It's not the first time this has happened. When times are good, we see a balanced spending in Discovery and development. That benefits our whole portfolio. When client base is concerned about revenues, they tend to nuance the clinic. And with regard to preclinical stuff, the post-IND stuff. So been there before.

別擔心。這種情況並非第一次發生。經濟景氣時，我們在藥物發現和開發的支出會比較平衡。這對我們整個產品組合都有好處。當客戶群關注收入時，他們往往會對臨床研究進行細微調整。對於臨床前研究和新藥臨床試驗申請 (IND) 後的研究，情況也是如此。所以以前也發生過這種情況。

And in terms of the growth in development and solidity and strength of the companies, they have to go back and spend on Discovery. So it's just a matter of time, and it's impossible to call it, although we'll obviously have to call for our operating plan for next year.

就公司發展、穩固性和實力的成長而言，他們必須回頭在探索號上投入資金。所以這只是時間問題，而且不可能預測，儘管我們顯然必須公佈明年的營運計劃。

But as I said before, our Discovery business, which we're pleased -- we're pleased with the scale, pleased with what we put together is still trivial by comparison. So it's really going to have no impact on the growth of our Safety Assessment business any time soon.

但正如我之前所說，我們對Discovery業務的規模感到滿意，也對我們整合後的整體業務感到滿意，但相比之下，Discovery業務仍然微不足道。因此，短期內它不會對我們的安全評估業務的成長產生任何影響。

As I said before, positive about as we continue to work hard to have a flow-through for successful molecules for Discovery safety, it could be a benefit, but I really don't see this being a detriment. I suppose if the business was much larger, and 90% of our clients were moving stuff from discovery to safety, I might give you a different answer, but that's -- maybe we'll be there someday.

正如我之前所說，我們繼續努力確保成功分子的流通，以確保發現階段的安全，對此我持積極態度，這可能會帶來好處，但我真的不認為這會有什麼壞處。我想，如果業務規模更大，而且我們90%的客戶都將產品從發現階段轉移到安全階段，我可能會給出不同的答案，但那隻是——也許有一天我們會實現這一點。

It's not where we are right now. So I understand that they are connected, but it's actually useful to look at it on kind of a connected basis. So what you see when we report DSA is essentially -- primarily our Safety Assessment results.

我們現在還沒到這個地步。我知道它們之間是有關聯的，但實際上，從某種關聯性的角度來看它們會更有幫助。所以，當我們報告DSA時，你看到的基本上——主要是我們的安全評估結果。

We'll take our next question from Charles Rhyee with TD Cowen.

我們將回答 TD Cowen 的 Charles Rhyee 提出的下一個問題。

I had a question sort of on the fourth quarter guidance, just generally how to think of cadence overall. I think pre-COVID, your fourth quarter was typically your strongest quarter in terms of earnings. Obviously, that wasn't the case during sort of the COVID period and certainly not the case this year from tough comps as well as some of the trends you're discussing.

我有個關於第四季業績指引的問題，就是整體上如何看待業績節奏。我認為在新冠疫情之前，你們的第四季通常是獲利表現最強勁的一個季度。顯然，在新冠疫情期間並非如此，從艱難的同店銷售額以及你剛才提到的一些趨勢來看，今年的情況肯定也並非如此。

If we think about the range here for the fourth quarter, is this a good jumping off point, though, as we're kind of going to the ex-COVID period? It seems like backlog is kind of normalizing. Cancellation rates are slowing, and we're maybe getting to a more normal period.

如果我們考慮一下第四季的區間，現在是不是一個好的起點？畢竟我們差不多要進入新冠疫情之前的時期了。積壓訂單似乎正在逐漸正常化。取消率正在下降，我們可能正在進入一個更正常的時期。

And so would we expect the jump-off point for the fourth quarter to think of first quarter next year at least sequentially down and we be getting back to a more normal cadence of earnings?

那麼，我們是否預計第四季的起點至少會比明年第一季下降，並且我們會恢復到更正常的獲利節奏？

It depends on what you mean by jump-off point from a growth rate, right? Our first -- our fourth quarter, as I indicated in my remarks from an organic revenue, it's mid-single-digit decline, which is not, I think, how you should be thinking about the outlook for 2024.

這取決於你所說的成長率的起點是什麼，對嗎？正如我在關於有機收入的評論中所指出的，我們的第一季——也就是第四季度——出現了中等個位數的下降，我認為這不應該成為你對2024年前景的預期。

Without putting -- without giving any guidance into 2024, we -- I think the fourth quarter is being impacted by comps because we had extraordinarily high performance in the fourth quarter of 2022, with close to 19% growth. So if you're talking about growth rates, I have to be careful.

我們不提供任何2024年的業績指引，但我認為第四季度受到了同店銷售額的影響，因為我們在2022年第四季的業績表現非常出色，成長率接近19%。所以，如果你談論成長率，我必須謹慎。

From a dollar standpoint.

從美元的角度來看。

Yes. So I think from a dollar standpoint, I think I commented earlier, it's sort of flattish, I think, to slightly down versus the third quarter. Normally, our fourth quarter tends to be our largest quarter from a dollar perspective. But we do, as you pointed out, we're seeing some impacts from the demand environment, and that plays a little bit into the fourth quarter.

是的。所以我認為從美元角度來看，就像我之前評論的那樣，與第三季相比，第四季的銷售額略有持平或略有下降。通常情況下，從美元角度來看，第四季往往是我們銷售額最高的一個季度。但正如您所指出的，我們確實看到了需求環境的一些影響，這對第四季度產生了一定的影響。

We really encourage you guys to look at us on an annualized basis. We have fluctuations quarter-to-quarter. There's comps when we compare to last year, first half, second half, as we pointed out, first half was relatively lower second half was very strong from a growth rate, and then there's other things like the timing of the NHP shipments in China, as I pointed out.

我們非常鼓勵大家以年度視角看待我們。我們的季度業績存在波動。與去年同期相比，上半年和下半年都有可比較數據。正如我們所指出的，上半年相對較低，而下半年的成長率非常強勁。此外，還有其他因素，例如我之前指出的，中國NHP的出貨時間。

Great. And if I could just quickly follow up on that.

太好了。我能不能快速跟進一下這個問題？

Use the entire year as the jumping off point I think it's what we're saying. So we had -- we've had some complicated comps this year and last year, first half year versus second and vice versa. The sort of assumption that quarters will be a certain growth rate is almost a positive for us to discern.

我認為，以全年作為起點才是我們想要表達的。所以我們今年和去年、上半年和下半年以及下半年和上半年的業績對比都比較複雜。對我們來說，季度成長率會有一定的假設幾乎是件好事。

I think we do a very good job at giving you annual guidance. So try to embrace what the full year's growth rate and margin is as some sort of reasonable jumping off point, subject to whatever we do with pricing and whatever volume we can garner for the next year. But if you just assume that whatever the fourth quarter is just going to continue, I think that's going to give you an erroneous result.

我認為我們在提供年度業績指引方面做得非常出色。因此，請盡量將全年的成長率和利潤率作為合理的起點，但取決於我們的定價策略以及明年的銷售量。但如果您只是假設第四季度的業績會持續下去，我認為這會得出錯誤的結果。

Yes, understood. If I could follow up on that NHP. Just what is the sort of root cause on the kind of the difference in timing of shipments? Has that always just been a constant in this business just not very noticeable or just not having needed to be called out until more recently? Or is there something more specific happening over the last year or so?

是的，明白了。請問NHP，出貨時間差異的根本原因是什麼？這個問題在這個行業裡一直存在，只是不太明顯，還是直到最近才需要指出？還是說在過去一年左右發生了一些更具體的事情？

Yes. No, I mean it's always been there. We had to call it out because it was sort of unpredictable and the numbers are pretty big. The impact when we get it is quite positive. We don't have a lot of control and we have X number of NHPs available.

是的。不，我的意思是它一直都在那裡。我們不得不公開它，因為它有點難以預測，而且數量相當龐大。一旦我們得到它，它的影響是相當積極的。我們控制力有限，而且我們有無數個 NHP 可用。

We have a handful of local clients, Chinese clients who want them. And sometimes that slides, they say they want them in a certain quarter, and they don't take them or they don't take all of them. So it's again, a little bit unpredictable, but we should end up selling all that we had anticipated during the fiscal year. So we have said earlier that numbers of animals available was slightly less than they were a couple of years ago. And so that has an impact as well.

我們有一些本地客戶，例如中國客戶，他們想要這些動物。但有時情況會有所下滑，他們說某個季度需要，但最終卻沒有接受，或者沒有全部接受。所以這又有點難以預測，但我們最終應該會在本財年賣出所有預期的動物。我們之前說過，現在可供出售的動物數量比幾年前略少。這也會產生影響。

We'll take our next question from Jack Wallace with Guggenheim Securities.

我們將回答古根漢證券公司的傑克華萊士提出的下一個問題。

Quick one on NHPs, and again, I appreciate all the disclosure. I think you recall that there was expected to be about half or certainly less than the $190 million -- or $160 million impact for the back half of the year due to supply constraints.

關於非處方藥（NHP），我再次感謝大家的披露。我想您還記得，由於供應限制，預計下半年的影響約為1.9億美元，或肯定低於1.6億美元。

It looks like there was a solid beat in DSA in the quarter, possibly related to that. Was there any NHP revenue drop there or impact that was you previously called out that we experienced in the third quarter?

看起來本季的DSA表現強勁，可能與此有關。 NHP收入是否有所下降，或者像您之前提到的那樣，我們在第三季度經歷了哪些影響？

Yes. So I think we've been -- the team has done an incredible job throughout the year of ensuring we could support the needs of our clients and mitigate almost all the impact of the supply disruptions that we were expecting in the beginning of the year. And so as a result of that, as you saw, we actually updated our full year guidance for the DSA segment now to high single digit. And so I think the impact of NHP supply disruption would really -- has really been de minimis and has allowed us to actually increase the DSA guidance.

是的。所以我認為我們團隊全年都做得非常出色，確保我們能夠滿足客戶的需求，並幾乎完全減輕了年初預期的供應中斷帶來的影響。因此，如您所見，我們實際上已將直接銷售（DSA）部門的全年業績預期上調至高個位數。因此，我認為非處方藥（NHP）供應中斷的影響實際上已經降到最低，這使我們能夠實際上調直接銷售（DSA）的業績預期。

That's fantastic. And then quickly over to Manufacturing, thinking about the testing business. Just to put the demand for testing in context for vaccines, roughly, where are we today in terms of demand mix versus, say, pre-COVID?

太棒了。然後快速轉到製造業，思考一下檢測業務。為了將檢測需求放在疫苗的背景中，粗略地說，與新冠疫情之前相比，我們現在的需求結構大致處於什麼水平？

Just trying to get an idea if there's -- as inventories have been diminishing, whether there's a snapback here. We're still above -- at an elevated level compared to historical norms.

只是想了解一下，隨著庫存減少，是否會出現反彈。我們仍然處於高於歷史平均的水平。

I think the historical levels of testing are higher. A lot of the work got sort of hijacked with COVID, and that should be coming back. What we're encompassing now is just to pull back the numbers of drugs to be tested just generally a huge emphasis in getting stuff through the clinic.

我認為檢測水平比歷史上更高。很多工作因為新冠疫情而被劫持了，這種情況應該會恢復。我們現在的措施只是減少需要檢測的藥物數量，總的來說，就是大力強調讓藥物通過臨床。

Again, our Biologics business, not unlike Discovery snapbacks quickly -- get snapback quickly. We have very short-term valuable studies with -- they just come with very little motives. Historically, there's been more of a more of a predictable cadence that we're experiencing this year. But we do think that going forward, we're heading back to sort of historical new onset the Discovery -- the biologics business had very good growth rates and margin accretion over the last few years. Microbial has been a steady grower for 25 years literally, with exceptional margins.

再說一次，我們的生物製劑業務與發現公司（Discovery）的快速反彈類似，反彈速度很快。我們有一些短期有價值的研究，它們幾乎沒有動機。從歷史上看，我們今年經歷的節奏更加可預測。但我們確實認為，展望未來，我們將回到某種歷史性的新起點——發現公司——生物製劑業務在過去幾年裡實現了非常好的成長率和利潤率成長。微生物業務25年來一直保持穩定成長，利潤率也非常高。

And we do think our CDMO business, which nobody has asked about, but in our prepared remarks, now is performing well, growing nicely, bunch of regulatory audits, several clients hopefully move it from a clinical phase of the commercial phase. That will -- that obviously will be accretive to the Manufacturing segment's top and bottom line as the margins improve.

我們確實認為我們的CDMO業務（雖然沒人問過，但我們在準備好的演講稿中提到過）目前表現良好，增長良好，正在進行一系列監管審計，一些客戶希望它能從臨床階段進入商業化階段。隨著利潤率的提高，這顯然將增加製造部門的營收和利潤。

We'll take our next question from Josh Waldman with Cleveland Research.

我們將回答克利夫蘭研究公司的喬希·沃爾德曼提出的下一個問題。

Just one here on DSA. Jim, I guess I wondered if you could comment on any changes you're seeing in the competitive landscape and safety assessment? Curious whether demand fluctuations, cancellations or maybe capacity availability have resulted in any changes in recent discounting levels or the broader competitive landscape?

關於DSA，我只想問一個問題。吉姆，我想問您能否評論一下競爭格局和安全評估方面的變化？需求波動、航班取消或運力供應是否導致了近期折扣水準或更廣泛的競爭格局的變化？

We're not. We are significantly larger, deeper science and a much broader footprint than our competitors. And we also have the connectivity on the other parts of our business, particularly Discovery and aspects of Manufacturing -- the Manufacturing business.

不是。我們比競爭對手規模更大、科學研究更深入、業務範圍更廣。而且，我們與其他業務部門，尤其是研發和製造業務，也擁有良好的連結性。

So we're not seeing any fundamental changes. We have smaller competitors. I would say that without exception, they compete with us primarily and essentially on price. I think they can do an okay general toxicology study for you, but definitely not an okay complex study for you. And some of them have very small footprints and very limited capacity.

所以我們沒有看到任何根本性的改變。我們的競爭對手規模較小。我想說，他們毫無例外地主要、本質上是價格競爭。我認為他們可以為你做一個還行的一般毒理學研究，但絕對做不了複雜的研究。而且有些公司的佔地面積很小，產能也非常有限。

So I think we're holding and taking share. I think we're getting price when appropriate. I won't tell you that we never have aggressive pricing. We'll get aggressive if somebody's attacking a big client that we have or we're bidding on new de novo business. But generally, we feel that over the last few years, we've gotten much better paid for the complexity of our work.

所以我認為我們持有並佔據市場份額。我認為我們在適當的時候獲得價格。我不會告訴你我們從來沒有激進的定價。如果有人搶占我們現有的大客戶，或是我們在競標新的新業務，我們就會採取激進的定價策略。但總的來說，我們覺得在過去幾年裡，我們工作的複雜性帶來的收入要高得多。

So I don't think the competitive dynamic is going to change. It's probably a complex, expensive business where you have to have a lot of history for your clients. To appreciate you -- so I think folks that know better tend to come to us, we're working hard to have sufficient capacity, so we don't turn them away. And when I say capacity, I'm talking about staffing and facilities. And not just facilities in one place, but facilities all over the world. So we feel particularly good about our competitive posture in most of our businesses, but I would say particularly in safety.

所以我認為競爭態勢不會改變。這可能是一個複雜且成本高昂的行業，你必須為客戶累積豐富的經驗。為了更好地理解你——所以我認為那些更了解情況的人往往會來找我們，我們正在努力保持足夠的產能，這樣我們就不會拒絕他們。我所說的產能指的是人員和設施。而且不只是在一個地方的設施，而是遍佈全球的設施。因此，我們對大多數業務的競爭態勢感到特別滿意，尤其是在安全領域。

We'll take our next question from Tim Daley with Wells Fargo.

我們將回答富國銀行的蒂姆戴利提出的下一個問題。

So first, just noticed that there wasn't really a mention this quarter on the call of the recent reorg of the large model, safety tox infrastructure, kind of like quasi offshoring. So just curious, does that mean we've kind of stabilized all that set in place, no more disruptions to top line or profits?

首先，我注意到本季的電話會議上並沒有提到最近對大型模型、安全毒害基礎設施（有點像準離岸外包）的重組。我很好奇，這是否意味著我們已經穩定了所有現有措施，不再對營收或利潤造成乾擾？

And then what was the year-to-date margin headwind from this undertaking, if we were to think about that on the DSA margins specifically?

那麼，如果我們具體考慮 DSA 利潤率的話，這項事業今年迄今為止的利潤率阻力是什麼？

So I assume the first part of your question is about NHP disruption that we encountered at the beginning of the year and thought it might be more profound. So all that we can tell you is that we have a large international infrastructure.

所以我想你問題的第一部分是關於我們在年初遇到的NHP中斷，當時我們認為它可能影響更深遠。所以我們可以告訴你的是，我們擁有龐大的國際基礎設施。

We have multiple sources of supply, some of which we have an ownership position, some we have JVs, and all of them we have long-term contracts. So we have sufficient numbers of NHPs. I can't guarantee anything about the future, except to tell you that we are operating in very good harmony with local regulatory authorities.

我們有多個供應來源，其中一些是我們擁有的，一些是合資企業，而且我們與所有這些供應來源都簽訂了長期合約。因此，我們擁有足夠數量的NHP。我無法保證未來會發生什麼，但可以告訴大家的是，我們與當地監管機構的合作非常順利。

We have sufficient numbers of very high-quality healthy animals from multiple sources. We've had no disruption to and with our clients, are really pleased with the way we've been handling it. We will have the same assumption in terms of stability of NHP supply as we move into next year for sure, and unless something bizarre happens in the next couple of months, which we don't anticipate.

我們擁有來自多個來源的充足優質健康動物。我們的業務沒有受到任何干擾，客戶也對我們的處理方式非常滿意。進入明年，我們對非人靈長類動物供應的穩定性仍抱有同樣的預期，除非未來幾個月發生一些我們預計不會發生的異常情況。

So your question was a little, was looking for some guarantees. We don't anticipate any disruption, and we're doing everything we can to ensure that we don't have disruption and we had disruption at the beginning of the year as we think through no fault of our own, except bizarre set of circumstances. But right now, things are very stable from a client support point of view. I'll take the second part of that question.

所以你的問題有點像是在尋求一些保證。我們預計不會有任何中斷，我們正在盡最大努力確保不會出現中斷。年初我們也曾遇到中斷，我們認為這並非我們的錯，只是當時出現了一些特殊情況。目前，從客戶支援的角度來看，情況非常穩定。我來回答這個問題的第二部分。

The second part in terms of impact to margin, I think the DSA margin, both on the quarter and on a year-to-date basis, has been strong. And so as Jim said, I think we've done -- our teams have done a tremendous job on making sure that we navigated the situation, and that there was practically no impact into the margin of any supply movement that we made to accommodate the demand.

第二部分，關於對利潤率的影響，我認為DSA利潤率，無論是本季還是年初至今，都表現強勁。正如Jim所說，我們的團隊在確保我們順利應對疫情方面做了大量工作，確保我們為滿足需求而進行的任何供應調整，對利潤率幾乎沒有任何影響。

All right. Got it. That's really helpful. And Jim, just a follow-up here. On the supply side of things, in the 2Q 10-Q filing, there was a mention of a post quarter end acquisition of the majority stake of a prior JV large animal model supplier in the DSA business. I think kind of grossing it up gets to almost $0.5 billion valuation for that entity.

好的。明白了。這真的很有幫助。 Jim，我再跟進一下。關於供應方面，在第二季的10-Q財報中，提到了在季度末收購一家先前合資的大型動物模型供應商在DSA業務中的多數股權。我認為，如果算上這筆交易，該實體的估值將接近5億美元。

So could you just please provide us some detail on that? Location, plan, strategy, just some help there would be great.

那麼，您能否提供一些細節呢？地點、規劃、策略等等，只要能提供一些幫助就太好了。

Sure. So I can't be too specific since it hasn't closed yet. But the first tranche, we bought. So we own a big piece of this business. So very high-quality source of supply that we worked with for years. I'm quite confident that the rest of it will close, we will essentially own that site. And obviously, we will participate in running the site and hopefully, expanding it over time.

當然。由於交易尚未完成，我無法透露太具體。但第一批交易是我們買下的。所以我們擁有這項業務的很大一部分。這是一個我們合作多年的高品質供應來源。我非常有信心，剩餘部分也會完成，我們基本上擁有工廠。當然，我們將參與營運該工廠，並希望隨著時間的推移不斷擴大其規模。

And that's just -- that's another way to ensure the availability of high-quality monkeys for (inaudible) -- it's a particularly good location. We'll be able to give you clarity on that, hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, who it is, where it is, and what the positive ramifications are.

這只是——這是確保（聽不清楚）獲得優質猴子的另一種方式——這是一個特別好的地點。希望在不久的將來，我們能夠向你們明確說明，它是誰，在哪裡，以及它會帶來哪些正面影響。

I think that was probably the last question we had. Before we wrap up, I do want to go back to Derik's question or Matt on the $3 per share of NHP pricing, as we suggested.

我想這可能是我們最後一個問題了。在結束之前，我想回到Derik或Matt關於NHP每股3美元定價的問題，正如我們之前建議的那樣。

Because that would mean that almost all of the $235 million of cumulative benefit of NHP pricing that we share with all of you over the past 3 years would have dropped down to OI and EPS. And that -- it's just not true because our costs from NHP suppliers also have gone up meaningfully over the last 3 years.

因為這意味著，我們過去三年與大家分享的2.35億美元NHP定價累計收益幾乎全部都落到了營業利潤和每股收益上。但這並非事實，因為過去三年，我們從NHP供應商獲得的成本也大幅上漲了。

And so we're not going to provide details on how much they increase for competitive reasons, as you might imagine. But I can assure you that the costs have come up meaningfully. So the math on the $3 per share, I think, overstates that significantly.

因此，正如您可能想像的那樣，出於競爭原因，我們不會透露具體漲幅。但我可以向您保證，成本確實大幅上漲。因此，我認為每股3美元的計算方法明顯誇大了成本。

Thank you. We have no further questions in queue. I will turn the conference back to Todd Spencer for closing remarks.

謝謝。我們沒有其他問題了。接下來，請托德·斯賓塞致閉幕詞。

Great. Thank you for joining us on the conference call this morning. We look forward to seeing you at upcoming investor conferences and have a great day. Thank you. This concludes the call.

太好了。感謝您今天上午參加我們的電話會議。我們期待在即將舉行的投資者會議上與您相見，並祝您有美好的一天。謝謝。電話會議到此結束。

Thank you. That does conclude today's Charles River Laboratories Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

謝謝。今天的Charles River Laboratories 2023年第三季財報電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。現在您可以斷開連線了。