Cerence Inc (CRNC) 2022 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Cerence Q3 2022 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 Cerence 2022 年第三季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。

And I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today Mr. Richard Yerganian, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations. Mr. Yerganian, please go ahead.

我現在想把會議交給你今天的演講者，投資者關係高級副總裁 Richard Yerganian 先生。 Yerganian 先生，請繼續。

Thank you, Chris. Welcome to Cerence's third quarter fiscal year '22 conference call -- 2022 conference call. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that this call may involve certain forward-looking statements. Cerence makes no representations to update those statements after today. These statements are subject to the risks and uncertainties as described in our SEC filings, including the Form 8-K with a press release preceding today's call, our Form 10-Q filed on May 10, 2022, and our Form 10-K filed on November 23, 2021.

謝謝你，克里斯。歡迎來到 Cerence 的 22 財年第三季度電話會議——2022 年電話會議。在開始之前，我想提醒您，本次電話會議可能涉及某些前瞻性陳述。 Cerence 不聲明在今天之後更新這些聲明。這些陳述受我們提交給 SEC 的文件中所述的風險和不確定性的影響，包括在今天電話會議之前發布的 8-K 表格、我們於 2022 年 5 月 10 日提交的 10-Q 表格以及我們於 2022 年 5 月 10 日提交的 10-K 表格2021 年 11 月 23 日。

In addition, the company may refer to certain non-GAAP measures, key performance indicators and pro forma financial information during this call. Please refer to today's press release for further details of the definitions, limitations and uses of those measures, and reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to the closest GAAP equivalent. The press release is available in the IR section of our website.

此外，公司可能會在本次電話會議期間參考某些非公認會計準則指標、關鍵績效指標和備考財務信息。請參閱今天的新聞稿，了解有關這些措施的定義、限制和用途的更多詳細信息，以及非 GAAP 措施與最接近的 GAAP 等值措施的對賬。新聞稿可在我們網站的 IR 部分獲取。

Joining me on today's call are Stefan Ortmanns, CEO of Cerence; and Tom Beaudoin, CFO of Cerence. As a reminder, the only authorized spokespeople for the company are Stefan, Tom, and me. Before handing the call over to Stefan, I would like to announce several upcoming investor events. The exact timing of our participation is subject to change. So please go to the Events section of our IR website for the latest information.

和我一起參加今天電話會議的還有 Cerence 的首席執行官 Stefan Ortmanns；和 Cerence 的首席財務官 Tom Beaudoin。提醒一下，該公司唯一的授權發言人是 Stefan、Tom 和我。在將電話轉交給 Stefan 之前，我想宣布幾項即將舉行的投資者活動。我們參與的確切時間可能會發生變化。因此，請訪問我們 IR 網站的活動部分以獲取最新信息。

The conferences include the Raymond James 2022 Diversified Industrials Conference on August 23 in New York; the Evercore 2nd Annual TMT Conference on September 7 in New York; the RBC Capital Global Industrials Conference on September 13 in Las Vegas; and the Goldman Sachs 2022 Communacopia and Technology Conference on September 14 in San Francisco.

會議包括 8 月 23 日在紐約舉行的 Raymond James 2022 多元化工業會議； 9 月 7 日在紐約舉行的 Evercore 第二屆 TMT 年度會議； 9 月 13 日在拉斯維加斯舉行的 RBC Capital 全球工業會議；以及 9 月 14 日在舊金山舉行的高盛 2022 Communacopia 和技術會議。

Now on to the call. Stefan?

現在開始通話。斯特凡?

Thank you, Rich. Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining us to discuss our third quarter earnings. I'm pleased to report our third quarter broad areas of important progress and success across customers and product innovation. Working with our customers, we delivered 43 SOPs in the quarter. Our team secured important design wins and nominations, including a strategic win-back from Big Tech.

謝謝你，里奇。歡迎大家，並感謝您加入我們討論我們的第三季度收益。我很高興地報告我們第三季度在客戶和產品創新方面取得重要進展和成功的廣泛領域。我們與客戶合作，在本季度交付了 43 個 SOP。我們的團隊獲得了重要的設計獎項和提名，包括來自 Big Tech 的戰略贏回。

Our R&D and professional services organization launched new Cerence Cloud services with 3 OEMs. Additionally, we gathered with nearly 150 researchers and developers at our first Cerence technology conference to lay out the road map for our next ground working offerings. Overall, our core business performed well, including a record quarter for professional services. However, despite the positive momentum, there are a handful of items that adversely affected our Q3 revenue performance.

我們的研發和專業服務機構與 3 家 OEM 推出了新的 Cerence Cloud 服務。此外，我們在第一次 Cerence 技術會議上與近 150 名研究人員和開發人員齊聚一堂，為我們的下一個地面工作產品製定路線圖。總體而言，我們的核心業務表現良好，包括專業服務創紀錄的季度。然而，儘管勢頭良好，但仍有少數項目對我們第三季度的收入表現產生了不利影響。

Revenue at $89 million came in slightly below the bottom of our guidance range, yet adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP EPS were in line given our continued focus on efficiencies. Working against us as the quarter progressed was slower than expected revenue from certain new products and markets, continued FX headwinds, and pressure on car production, which was down 6% from last quarter according to IHS.

收入為 8900 萬美元，略低於我們指導範圍的底部，但鑑於我們繼續關注效率，調整後的 EBITDA 和非公認會計準則每股收益符合預期。隨著本季度的進展，某些新產品和市場的收入低於預期，外匯逆風以及汽車生產面臨壓力，根據 IHS 的數據，汽車生產比上一季度下降了 6%。

As with many companies and peers, we expect some of these trends to continue, which affects how we look at Q4 and importantly, our long-term planning and goals of sustainable growth. We will come back to these in a moment, but first let me share a few more details on the quarter.

與許多公司和同行一樣，我們預計其中一些趨勢將繼續下去，這會影響我們對第四季度的看法，更重要的是，影響我們的長期規劃和可持續增長的目標。我們稍後會回到這些，但首先讓我分享一些關於本季度的更多細節。

We believe the business is in a strong position to deliver long-term growth even if in the short term the market is struggling with supply chain issues. The continued strength in our core auto business is due to a number of important milestones that I briefly mentioned in my opening. We delivered 43 SOPs in the quarter. These vehicles from customers such as Toyota, Stellantis, Hyundai, Ford and Mercedes are now hitting the road, and are expected to contribute to revenue over the next several years.

我們相信，即使在短期內市場正因供應鏈問題而苦苦掙扎，該業務仍處於實現長期增長的有利地位。我們核心汽車業務的持續強勁是由於我在開幕式中簡要提到的一些重要里程碑。我們在本季度交付了 43 個 SOP。這些來自豐田、Stellantis、現代、福特和梅賽德斯等客戶的車輛現在正在上路，預計將在未來幾年為收入做出貢獻。

We continued our streak into important design wins and nominations that further secure us as a vendor of choice among OEMs worldwide. Among these wins is an important strategic account that represents one of the competitive win-backs we have targeted in recent quarters. We delivered a record quarter for professional services. We believe our success here is a leading indicator for future growth in license and connected services revenue.

我們繼續取得重要的設計獎項和提名，進一步確保我們成為全球 OEM 的首選供應商。在這些勝利中，有一個重要的戰略客戶，它代表了我們最近幾個季度所針對的競爭勝利之一。我們為專業服務創造了創紀錄的季度。我們相信，我們在這方面的成功是許可和連接服務收入未來增長的領先指標。

We officially launched our new Cerence Cloud services that significantly enhance the user experience and set new performance benchmarks for accuracy, latency and access to more innovation. We have initially provided these new cloud services for NIO, BYD and Geely. Each of these efforts and milestones are additional important layers to the foundation of our business, product and delivery excellence, great customer relationships, a compelling innovation road map, a strong pipeline of opportunities and healthy backlog. We are confident in the business, our competitive position and long-term prospects.

我們正式推出了新的 Cerence Cloud 服務，顯著提升了用戶體驗，並為準確性、延遲和獲得更多創新設定了新的性能基準。我們最初為蔚來、比亞迪和吉利提供了這些新的雲服務。這些努力和里程碑中的每一個都是我們業務、產品和交付卓越的基礎、良好的客戶關係、引人注目的創新路線圖、強大的機會管道和健康的積壓的額外重要層面。我們對業務、競爭地位和長期前景充滿信心。

As you know, however, our industry and many others around the world face a number of headwinds from lingering chip shortages and supply chain issues to currency risk, inflation and recession fears. It is not clear when these economic and industry-wide challenges will subside. We continually assess the situation through multiple inputs including discussions with our customers, IHS data and closely monitoring production levels.

然而，如您所知，我們的行業和世界各地的許多其他行業都面臨著許多不利因素，從揮之不去的芯片短缺和供應鏈問題到貨幣風險、通脹和衰退擔憂。目前尚不清楚這些經濟和行業範圍內的挑戰何時會消退。我們通過多種輸入持續評估情況，包括與客戶的討論、IHS 數據和密切監控生產水平。

With macro conditions outside of our influence, we are intensely focused on what we can control with the emphasis on innovation, delivering on customer commitments and tightly managing costs. We believe that as the industry returns to growth, the focus on these areas will serve us well over the long term.

在我們無法影響的宏觀條件下，我們專注於我們可以控制的事情，強調創新、兌現客戶承諾和嚴格管理成本。我們相信，隨著行業恢復增長，對這些領域的關注將長期為我們服務。

In the meantime, we must manage through these challenges and ensure we are positioned for the future. In recent months, the leadership team and I have evaluated all aspects of the business as we built our long-term plan, which we'll present and discuss with you later this year. One critical task has been to address fixed contracts.

與此同時，我們必須應對這些挑戰，並確保我們為未來做好準備。最近幾個月，我和領導團隊在製定長期計劃時對業務的各個方面進行了評估，我們將在今年晚些時候向大家介紹並討論這些計劃。一項關鍵任務是解決固定合同問題。

Fixed contracts have always been a part of our business and will continue to be. But as we discussed last quarter, we have been assessing the right balance of fixed contracts for the business as part of our long-term planning process. We have discussed how elevated levels of fixed contracts and the corresponding consumption rates adversely affect the predictability in our core auto business.

固定合同一直是我們業務的一部分，並將繼續如此。但正如我們上個季度所討論的那樣，作為我們長期規劃流程的一部分，我們一直在評估業務固定合同的適當平衡。我們已經討論了固定合同水平的提高和相應的消費率如何對我們核心汽車業務的可預測性產生不利影響。

Further current macroeconomic concerns and uncertainties have driven customers to seek higher discounts and concessions that are typically included in these contracts. Because of these factors and listening to your feedback, Tom and I decided now is the time to take a decisive step to improve the visibility into the strength of the core business.

當前宏觀經濟的進一步擔憂和不確定性促使客戶尋求通常包含在這些合同中的更高折扣和優惠。由於這些因素並聽取了您的反饋，Tom 和我決定現在是採取決定性步驟以提高對核心業務實力的可見性的時候了。

In order to enhance predictability into our future revenue, we have decided to sign 0 fixed contracts in Q4. And starting in fiscal '23, we will keep the annual contribution of fixed contracts within the historical range of approximately $40 million per year. This, of course, has an immediate impact on Q4 guidance, which Tom will walk you through in a moment.

為了提高我們未來收入的可預測性，我們決定在第四季度簽訂 0 份固定合同。從 23 財年開始，我們將把固定合同的年度貢獻保持在每年約 4000 萬美元的歷史範圍內。當然，這會對第四季度的指導產生直接影響，Tom 稍後將引導您完成。

We believe this action is in the best long-term interest of the company and our shareholders for these reasons. One, this shift will provide enhanced guarantee into our revenue stream. 2, it will provide predictable, consistent results that are comparable from period to period and greater visibility into our underlying business. 3, it will help mitigate recent economic pressures on the business.

出於這些原因，我們認為這一行動符合公司和股東的最佳長期利益。一，這種轉變將為我們的收入流提供更強的保證。 2，它將提供可預測的、一致的結果，可在不同時期進行比較，並提高對我們基礎業務的可見性。 3、有利於緩解企業近期的經濟壓力。

While there will be a transitional period as this change is implemented, we believe longer term it will enhance our earnings growth potential, and provide greater visibility and clarity into our strong underlying business. We will share in greater detail the long-term benefits of this change at our Analyst Day on November 29 in New York City.

儘管實施這一變化將有一個過渡期，但我們相信從長遠來看，它將增強我們的盈利增長潛力，並為我們強大的基礎業務提供更大的可見性和清晰度。我們將在 11 月 29 日紐約市的分析師日上更詳細地分享這一變化的長期利益。

Until then and as we complete our fiscal year and look ahead to fiscal 2023, we are focused on 3 key areas. First, deliver strong fiscal year bookings. Second, deliver excellence in all our product and customer-facing programs. Third, ensure efficient performance-oriented operations and cost structures. These will play a crucial role in our long-term strategy and multiyear plan that we will share with you at our Investor Day in November.

在那之前，隨著我們完成財年並展望 2023 財年，我們將專注於 3 個關鍵領域。首先，提供強勁的財政年度預訂。其次，在我們所有的產品和麵向客戶的計劃中提供卓越的服務。第三，確保以績效為導向的高效運營和成本結構。這些將在我們將在 11 月的投資者日與您分享的長期戰略和多年計劃中發揮關鍵作用。

And with that, I will now turn the call over to Tom to review the financial results of the quarter and talk more about guidance.

有了這個，我現在將電話轉給湯姆審查本季度的財務業績並更多地討論指導。

Thank you, Stefan. I'll come back to guidance and fixed contracts in a moment, but first I want to share more on our Q3 results. Q3 revenue came in at $89 million, slightly below the low end of our guidance due to a combination of the absence of expected one-time specialty deals and the strength of the U.S. dollar compared to other currencies.

謝謝你，斯特凡。我稍後會回到指導和固定合同，但首先我想分享更多關於我們第三季度業績的信息。第三季度收入為 8900 萬美元，略低於我們指引的低端，原因是缺乏預期的一次性特殊交易以及美元相對於其他貨幣走強。

Our key profitability metrics performed well. Non-GAAP gross margin was 73.7%, non-GAAP operating margin was 29%. Adjusted EBITDA was $28.5 million or 32% margin, and non-GAAP earnings per share were $0.43, coming in right at the midpoint of our guidance.

我們的關鍵盈利指標表現良好。非美國通用會計準則毛利率為 73.7%，非美國通用會計準則營業利潤率為 29%。調整後的 EBITDA 為 2850 萬美元或 32% 的利潤率，非 GAAP 每股收益為 0.43 美元，正好在我們指導的中點。

During the quarter, cash flow from operations was approximately negative $3.9 million. Our balance sheet remains strong with total cash and marketable securities of approximately $136 million. To provide more detail on our revenue, the core business came in largely as expected. Variable license revenue was down 30% from the same quarter last year. Pro forma royalties were down 3%, while consumption of fixed licenses increased 73% during the same period.

本季度，運營現金流約為負 390 萬美元。我們的資產負債表依然強勁，現金和有價證券總額約為 1.36 億美元。為了提供有關我們收入的更多詳細信息，核心業務在很大程度上符合預期。可變許可收入比去年同期下降了 30%。預計特許權使用費下降了 3%，而同期固定許可的使用量增加了 73%。

Connected services revenue was down 34% from last year as expected. This decline was the result of several previously disclosed factors such as the declining revenue associated with the legacy contract and expiring contracts for older technology. As previously discussed, these expiring contracts create about a $5 million headwind to connected services growth for the full fiscal year.

正如預期的那樣，互聯服務收入比去年下降了 34%。這種下降是先前披露的幾個因素的結果，例如與舊合同相關的收入下降和舊技術合同到期。如前所述，這些即將到期的合同對整個財年的互聯服務增長造成了約 500 萬美元的阻力。

Finally, our professional services revenue was up 36% year-over-year and 9% quarter-over-quarter. Growth in professional services is a key indicator of future license and connected services revenue as the pro services team includes the individuals who directly interface with customers to customize and implement Cerence's technology on next-generation OEM platforms.

最後，我們的專業服務收入同比增長 36%，環比增長 9%。專業服務的增長是未來許可和連接服務收入的關鍵指標，因為專業服務團隊包括直接與客戶互動以在下一代 OEM 平台上定制和實施 Cerence 技術的個人。

Now I'd like to spend a few minutes talking about fixed contracts. On our Q2 conference call, I spoke about how we will be assessing our long-term strategy relative to fixed contracts. Following that analysis, and hearing from investors and analysts concerns about the higher level of fixed contracts, as Stefan noted, we made the strategic decision to not do any fixed contract deals in Q4 and strictly limit the amount we will do on an annual basis moving forward.

現在我想花幾分鐘談談固定合同。在我們的第二季度電話會議上，我談到了我們將如何評估我們相對於固定合同的長期戰略。根據該分析，並聽取了投資者和分析師對更高水平的固定合同的擔憂，正如 Stefan 所指出的，我們做出了在第四季度不進行任何固定合同交易的戰略決定，並嚴格限制我們每年將進行的移動量向前。

We believe this will better serve the long-term interest of the company as this will enhance visibility into our core business and revenue, will demonstrate more consistent underlying results, and more effectively protect our economics related to these type deals. While there will be a transitional period associated with this strategic shift, this decision will enhance the predictability of our earnings in the long run and be more representative of our strong underlying business. This decision impacts our Q4 guidance.

我們相信這將更好地服務於公司的長期利益，因為這將提高我們對核心業務和收入的可見性，將展示更一致的基本結果，並更有效地保護我們與這些類型交易相關的經濟。雖然這一戰略轉變將有一個過渡期，但這一決定將提高我們長期收益的可預測性，並更能代表我們強大的基礎業務。這一決定影響了我們的第四季度指導。

Before reviewing guidance, I want to provide some additional details on our license revenue to help you understand the strength of the underlying business and what led us to our decision regarding fixed contracts. The table shows the pro forma royalties on a quarterly basis, the amount of consumption from fixed contracts, and the net license or variable revenue, which is the number we report in our quarterly revenue.

在查看指南之前，我想提供一些關於我們的許可收入的額外細節，以幫助您了解基礎業務的實力以及是什麼導致我們做出關於固定合同的決定。該表顯示了每季度的形式版稅、固定合同的消耗量以及淨許可或可變收入，這是我們在季度收入中報告的數字。

Importantly, pro forma royalties revenue remains solid, aligning to our strength in customer penetration even with the impact of macroeconomic factors over the last few quarters. Pro forma royalty license revenue is a strong indicator of the deployment of our technologies on current auto production.

重要的是，即使在過去幾個季度宏觀經濟因素的影響下，預計特許權使用費收入仍然穩健，與我們在客戶滲透方面的實力保持一致。預計特許權使用費收入是我們在當前汽車生產中部署技術的有力指標。

You can see the impact from the elevated levels of fixed contracts and the resulting growth in consumption of prior fixed contracts, which supported our decision. As fixed contracts are managed back to more historical levels, we believe that in FY '25, new fixed contracts will be approximately equal to the level of consumption. Because of our decision to limit fixed contracts to approximately $40 million moving forward, we expect FY '23 will represent a transition year, followed by strong growth in FY '24 for the license business.

您可以看到固定合同水平提高以及由此導致的先前固定合同消費增長的影響，這支持了我們的決定。隨著固定合同被管理回曆史水平，我們相信在 25 財年，新的固定合同將大約等於消費水平。由於我們決定將固定合同限制在大約 4000 萬美元，我們預計 23 財年將是一個過渡年，隨後是 24 財年許可業務的強勁增長。

Further, we believe our strong growth opportunities in the future will be more visible after this transitional period. Fixed contracts have been a part of the business for as far back as 2008, when I first joined Nuance. We are committed to not go above the historical level moving forward.

此外，我們相信在這個過渡期之後，我們未來的強勁增長機會將更加明顯。早在 2008 年我第一次加入 Nuance 時，固定合同就已成為業務的一部分。我們致力於不超越歷史水平向前發展。

We are confident that we can work with our customers that use this mechanism to reduce their cost and agree to a solution that supports them, while at the same time, protecting the long-term growth and margin of the company. Importantly, we do not expect that this shift in contracts will meaningfully impact our customer relationships as demand for our solutions remain strong and this move mainly shifts the timing of revenue recognition.

我們相信，我們可以與使用這種機制的客戶合作，以降低他們的成本並同意支持他們的解決方案，同時保護公司的長期增長和利潤。重要的是，我們預計合同的這種轉變不會對我們的客戶關係產生有意義的影響，因為對我們解決方案的需求仍然強勁，而這一舉措主要改變了收入確認的時間。

Now turning to revenue guidance for Q4 and subsequently the fiscal year. The decision not to do any fixed contracts in Q4 has led us to guide Q4 revenue to be in the range of $52 million to $58 million and $322 million to $328 million for the full year. The guidance for Q4 assumes no fixed contracts, slower-than-expected revenue contribution from adjacent markets, no specialty deals, and ongoing currency volatility.

現在轉向第四季度和隨後的財政年度的收入指導。在第四季度不簽訂任何固定合同的決定導致我們將第四季度的全年收入引導在 5200 萬美元至 5800 萬美元和 3.22 億美元至 3.28 億美元之間。第四季度的指導假設沒有固定合同、鄰近市場的收入貢獻低於預期、沒有特殊交易以及持續的貨幣波動。

Over this transitional period in Q4 and fiscal 2023, our management team will focus on capitalizing on the solid demand for our solutions and generating strong, consistent pro forma royalty license revenue. We will also focus on pursuing operational excellence and gaining efficiencies across our business.

在第四季度和 2023 財年的這個過渡期內，我們的管理團隊將專注於利用對我們解決方案的強勁需求，並產生強勁、一致的備考特許權使用費許可收入。我們還將專注於追求卓越運營並提高整個業務的效率。

We are aware of the short-term impact of this decision, but firmly believe that this will return the business to more predictable long-term growth. At our Analyst Day later this year, we will share with you the multiyear plan that will show the positive impact this decision is expected to have on our long-term growth and profitability, along with our plans for the rest of the business.

我們意識到這一決定的短期影響，但堅信這將使業務恢復更可預測的長期增長。在今年晚些時候的分析師日，我們將與您分享多年計劃，該計劃將顯示該決定預計將對我們的長期增長和盈利能力產生的積極影響，以及我們對其他業務的計劃。

This concludes our prepared remarks and now we will open the call for questions.

我們準備好的發言到此結束，現在我們將開始提問。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question will come from Luke Junk of Baird.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題將來自 Baird 的 Luke Junk。

I wanted to start with the fixed contracts and just a clarification in terms of the strategy going forward. And what I'm wondering is relative to your new $40 million annual target for those fixed contracts, does that have any implications for the mix of pre-pay and minimum commitment contracts going forward as well?

我想從固定合同開始，只是對未來戰略的澄清。我想知道的是，相對於你為這些固定合同製定的新的 4000 萬美元年度目標，這對未來預付合同和最低承諾合同的組合是否有任何影響？

It will -- we don't know exactly whether the $40 million, depending on the discussions and negotiations with the customers, whether there'll be minimum commitment deals or whether they'll be prepaid. We'll provide through the reporting that we've been doing, how that plays out in each year. But the cap will be for the total of both of them. And then we'll just have to determine which is the better contracting, both for the customer and for us from an economic standpoint.

它將 - 我們不確切知道這 4000 萬美元是否取決於與客戶的討論和談判，是否會有最低承諾交易或是否會預付。我們將通過我們一直在做的報告提供每年的情況。但上限將是他們兩人的總和。然後我們只需要從經濟的角度來確定哪種合同對客戶和我們都更好。

And then my follow-up question, could you just remind us of the average contract duration, I guess, I'm thinking relative to the pro forma royalties that you showed on Slide 10 and then the consumption of fixed licenses? In other words, how much pressure is there going to be to variable license growth near term from the elevated level of fixed contracts that were booked, say, in fiscal '23 if we can handicap the mechanical headwind based on what you've booked the last few years and what you've shown in terms of the headwind in the current year as well?

然後是我的後續問題，您能否提醒我們平均合同期限，我想，我想的是您在幻燈片 10 上展示的形式版稅，然後是固定許可證的消耗？換句話說，如果我們可以根據您預訂的情況來限制機械逆風，那麼從 23 財年預訂的固定合同的高水平來看，短期內可變許可證增長會有多大壓力過去幾年，您在今年的逆風方面也表現出什麼？

So hopefully, the additional disclosure that we provided around the pro forma royalties revenue shows you the trends around the revenue that would come in through the auto production each quarter. The average length of our contracts is about 7.7 years. With respect to the consumption of fixed contracts, we do provide the breakout of the fixed contracts that we've done to date between prepaid and minimum commitments. And then we've also provided some information around the dynamics of each of those. As we said, the fixed -- the prepaids are normally 6 quarters. They have a higher discount rate. They have cash upfront. The minimum commitment deals are longer, more like 4 to 5 years with a much smaller discount. And of course, cash as the consumption is used up each quarter.

因此，希望我們圍繞特許權使用費收入提供的額外披露向您展示了每個季度通過汽車生產獲得的收入趨勢。我們的合同平均期限約為 7.7 年。關於固定合同的消耗，我們確實提供了迄今為止我們在預付和最低承諾之間所做的固定合同的細分。然後我們還提供了一些關於這些動態的信息。正如我們所說，固定的預付費用通常是 6 個季度。他們有更高的折扣率。他們有預付現金。最低承諾交易更長，更像是 4 到 5 年，折扣要小得多。當然，作為消費的現金每個季度都會用完。

I think the other important thing that I tried to put in the commentary was we do believe as we kind of model this out, and it is slightly dependent upon how customers consume those prepaid minimum commitments. That is variable. But we expect that by fiscal '25, the $40 million of fixed contracts will approximate the consumption of previous fixed contract deals up until that time. So that should give you a good way to kind of see how the models work and how they play out.

我認為我試圖在評論中提出的另一件重要的事情是，我們確實相信，因為我們對此進行了建模，並且它略微取決於客戶如何消費這些預付的最低承諾。那是可變的。但我們預計，到 25 財年，4000 萬美元的固定合同將接近之前固定合同交易的消耗量。所以這應該給你一個很好的方式來了解模型是如何工作的以及它們是如何發揮作用的。

Our next question will come from Joseph Spak of RBC Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題將來自 RBC Capital Markets 的 Joseph Spak。

So if we go all the way back to fiscal '20, this company, and I realize there was a different management team, but you spoke about lowering the fixed or managing it to $40 million. It only went higher. And the answer was always it was way more difficult to get customers to change. And even last quarter, Stefan, I mean you said in your prepared remarks, customers prefer these contracts for cost savings. And it was good for you because you're winning in a highly competitive environment and cementing relationships and there was an upsell opportunity. So the question is, what -- with this change, which I appreciate you sort of listening to investors and feedback, but what do you think this does for your future relationship with customers, your future share opportunity, if you really do take this hardline stance? Because based on what you said prior, it would seem like this is not exactly what your customers want.

因此，如果我們一直回到 20 財年，這家公司和我意識到有一個不同的管理團隊，但你談到將固定資產降低或管理到 4000 萬美元。它只會更高。答案總是更難讓客戶改變。甚至上個季度，斯特凡，我的意思是你在準備好的評論中說，客戶更喜歡這些合同以節省成本。這對您有好處，因為您在競爭激烈的環境中獲勝並鞏固了關係，並且有追加銷售的機會。所以問題是，這個變化是什麼，我很感謝你傾聽投資者和反饋，但你認為這對你與客戶的未來關係，你未來的分享機會有什麼影響，如果你真的採取這種強硬路線姿態？因為根據您之前所說的，這似乎不是您的客戶想要的。

Joe, thanks for joining us. So let me go forward and then I will also ask Tom for his view. He knows the business now for many years, also from the early days at Nuance. I think based on the headwinds we are seeing, right, also with currency weakness here, especially when looking at Asia Pacific, right, our partners and customers, they have really high requests for discounts here, right. And personally, I was involved with 2 of them, right, already at the end of Q3 or beginning of Q3 and also now.

喬，感謝您加入我們。所以讓我繼續前進，然後我也會問湯姆他的看法。他現在已經了解該業務多年，也是從 Nuance 的早期開始。我認為基於我們所看到的不利因素，以及這裡的貨幣疲軟，尤其是在亞太地區，對，我們的合作夥伴和客戶，他們對這裡的折扣要求非常高，對吧。就個人而言，我參與了其中的兩個，對，已經在第三季度末或第三季度初以及現在。

We have still a great relationship. I was very clear on what we can do and what we can't. And I was also very clear with our sales team and the purchasing guy on their side. And I'm going back to them. We still have a great relationship with those customers, but I think we need to make this decision now, right. It's better for our business. It's also better for you. We listen to you and the shareholders, right. And I mean that's the right step for Cerence and especially also for our long-term planning. And we will share the MIP plan with you also in our November Investor Day here.

我們的關係仍然很好。我很清楚我們能做什麼，不能做什麼。我對我們的銷售團隊和他們身邊的採購人員也非常清楚。我要回到他們身邊。我們仍然與這些客戶保持著良好的關係，但我認為我們現在需要做出這個決定，對吧。這對我們的業務更好。這對你也更好。我們聽取您和股東的意見，對。我的意思是，這對 Cerence 來說是正確的一步，尤其是對我們的長期規劃而言。我們也將在這裡的 11 月投資者日與您分享 MIP 計劃。

So that's my view. I'm really engaged. But nevertheless, at the end, it's all about innovation, right, driving new products, showing them delivery excellence and product excellence, right. And this is a key focus of our team of Cerence now.

這就是我的觀點。我真的訂婚了。但是，歸根結底，這一切都與創新有關，對，推動新產品，向他們展示卓越的交付和卓越的產品，對。這是我們 Cerence 團隊現在的重點。

So just a little bit on that. So we spent a lot of time as we're trying to develop our MIP on what the level is. And we couldn't really go to 0 because of some of the things you talked about, Joe. And so Stefan and I, based on his personal experience with some of these customers, we also spent some time with head of sales who drives these and he's been with us for many years and understands the customer dynamics.

所以只是一點點。所以我們花了很多時間來嘗試在這個級別上開發我們的 MIP。喬，因為你談到的一些事情，我們無法真正達到 0。所以 Stefan 和我，根據他與其中一些客戶的個人經驗，我們還與推動這些客戶的銷售主管共度了一些時間，他與我們在一起多年，了解客戶動態。

And just to point out, as we've always said, this is a certain group of customers. This isn't our -- across our entire customer base. We all came to a consensus that the approximately $40 million level, we would be able to balance both the customer relationships, the customer satisfaction, the deal economics on a go-forward basis.

只是指出，正如我們一直說的那樣，這是一組特定的客戶。這不是我們的 - 在我們的整個客戶群中。我們都達成共識，大約 4000 萬美元的水平，我們將能夠平衡客戶關係、客戶滿意度和交易經濟性。

Okay. Maybe to follow up on that. It sounds like maybe a little bit more color on how you got comfortable with this $40 million level, whether that's customer directed or Cerence because, I mean, my understanding, and correct me if I'm wrong is, but you've said in the past, you get about, call it, $4 a vehicle. So aren't you still pre-selling about $10 million into a year at that $40 million fixed?

好的。也許要跟進。聽起來你對這個 4000 萬美元的水平感到滿意，無論是客戶指導還是 Cerence，這聽起來可能有點色彩，因為，我的意思是，我的理解，如果我錯了，請糾正我，但你已經說過過去，你到處走走，叫它，4美元一輛車。所以你不是還在以固定的 4000 萬美元預售 1000 萬美元到一年嗎？

Well, again, it depends on the customer and the mix that's associated with either prepay or a minimum commitment. But yes, I mean we still would be getting about $40 million a year. But again, that number, we spent a lot of time trying to understand that right level on a go-forward basis. And as I said, by FY '25, they'll kind of balance out the amount of fixed contracts and the consumption level against those contracts.

好吧，同樣，這取決於客戶以及與預付款或最低承諾相關的組合。但是，是的，我的意思是我們每年仍將獲得約 4000 萬美元。但同樣，這個數字，我們花了很多時間試圖在前進的基礎上理解正確的水平。正如我所說，到 25 財年，他們將平衡固定合同的數量和這些合同的消費水平。

We just needed some flexibility. We needed to provide our sales team and our customers with some flexibility to continue contracting this way, which, as I said, is -- we've been doing this since I joined Nuance in 2008. And -- but we do believe we can manage it to those more historical levels. And again some of this was impacted by the macroeconomic factors in the last couple of years in the auto industry, and people and customers just getting more into trying to drive their cost structure down as they had volume issues in production, which, as you know, a lot of these customers have very strong procurement teams.

我們只是需要一些靈活性。我們需要為我們的銷售團隊和我們的客戶提供一些靈活性，以便繼續以這種方式簽訂合同，正如我所說，自 2008 年我加入 Nuance 以來，我們一直在這樣做。而且 - 但我們確實相信我們可以將其管理到那些更具歷史意義的水平。再一次，其中一些受到汽車行業過去幾年宏觀經濟因素的影響，人們和客戶正越來越多地嘗試降低成本結構，因為他們在生產中遇到了數量問題，正如你所知，很多這些客戶都有非常強大的採購團隊。

But we're really confident that we can manage it to that level. These are conversations with our customers. They know that we have to balance our economics too. And we've managed to this level historically when the business was part of Nuance. And we did see this uptick during these macroeconomic times, and we think kind of going what we looked at this quarter and then going into '23, we believe we can manage to that level.

但我們真的有信心能把它管理到那個水平。這些是與我們客戶的對話。他們知道我們也必須平衡我們的經濟。當該業務是 Nuance 的一部分時，我們在歷史上已經達到了這個水平。在這些宏觀經濟時期，我們確實看到了這種上升，我們認為按照我們本季度的看法，然後進入 23 年，我們相信我們可以達到這個水平。

Our next question will come from Mark Delaney of Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題將來自高盛的馬克德萊尼。

I have 2 as well, if I could. Maybe first sticking on the topic of the fixed contracts. Could you clarify how much inventory you expect to have of these fixed contracts sitting at your customers as you exit this year and maybe bridge us from the amount of inventory exiting this fiscal year until that fiscal '25 time frame when you think selling and usage will be about equal?

如果可以的話，我也有2個。也許首先堅持固定合同的主題。您能否澄清一下您希望在今年退出時為您的客戶提供的這些固定合同的庫存量，並可能將我們從本財年退出的庫存量過渡到您認為銷售和使用將在 25 財年的時間範圍內差不多？

No. We're not providing the actual full number, but you have all the data to kind of figure that out because you have the historical contracts that we've done -- fixed contracts that we've done, you have the breakout between prepaids and minimum commitments. And then you have this goal -- this kind of guidepost in FY '25 as to when we think there'll be approximately equal.

不，我們沒有提供實際的完整數字，但你有所有數據可以計算出來，因為你有我們已經完成的歷史合同——我們已經完成的固定合同，你有之間的突破預付和最低承諾。然後你就有了這個目標——25 財年的這種指導方針，關於我們認為何時會大致相等。

Okay. You mentioned seeing customers looking for more discounting and I was hoping you could elaborate a bit more on that. And is Cerence actually booking new business that's reflecting some increased price pressure? Or are you walking away from some of those requests, and that's a big part of some of the changes we're hearing about and why we should be expecting revenues to be lower in the near to immediate term?

好的。你提到看到客戶尋求更多折扣，我希望你能詳細說明一下。 Cerence 是否真的在預訂反映價格壓力增加的新業務？或者您是否放棄了其中一些要求，這是我們聽到的一些變化的重要組成部分，為什麼我們應該預計近期收入會降低？

Now Stefan was talking specifically about fixed price contracts. And remember, these are associated with our technology that's already in production with our customers. And so these are deals that are in process and what they do is then they come back to us and say, hey, we have cost pressures that we need to deal with. And so we'd like to prepay or do a minimum commitment to get a slightly larger discount against what we're paying on a running royalty basis.

現在 Stefan 正在專門談論固定價格合同。請記住，這些都與我們的技術相關，這些技術已經與我們的客戶一起投入生產。所以這些都是正在進行中的交易，他們所做的就是然後他們回到我們身邊說，嘿，我們有需要處理的成本壓力。因此，我們希望預付或做出最低承諾，以獲得比我們在運行版稅的基礎上支付的稍大的折扣。

And what we saw, particularly in Q3 was a lot of these contracts are in USD. And with the strength of the U.S. dollar, those customers are trying to assess what the currency impact is on them. And if they're in Korea or Japan or wherever, they're taking the currency risk against that prepaid or that minimum commit. And so therefore they come back and they say, well, I need a higher discount to protect the uncertainty around the currency.

我們看到，特別是在第三季度，很多這些合同都是美元。由於美元走強，這些客戶正試圖評估貨幣對他們的影響。而且，如果他們在韓國、日本或其他任何地方，他們將承擔預付或最低承諾的貨幣風險。所以他們回來了，他們說，好吧，我需要更高的折扣來保護貨幣的不確定性。

And we're just not willing to go above a certain level. I mean we run ROIs on all of these deals because you're pulling the revenue in, but it also has cash flow implications because on the prepaids you get the cash much earlier. And so if you start to give too high a level of discount, those ROIs don't look very good.

我們只是不願意超過某個水平。我的意思是，我們對所有這些交易都運行投資回報率，因為你正在拉動收入，但它也有現金流影響，因為在預付上你更早地獲得了現金。因此，如果您開始給予過高的折扣，這些投資回報率看起來就不是很好。

And let me also say a few words to the business here, right. So I think, indeed, also in Q3, we had a strong quarter. We got in various nomination letters across the globe. Now we need to convert them to bookings, right. We won also a marquee North American OEM for our EBD solution, right. We see a continuous traction here for trucks, EV makers here. We signed another one also for RV in the RV space. We signed also a deal for 2-wheelers here. So we are doing pretty well in the core business here, right.

讓我也對這裡的業務說幾句話，對。所以我認為，事實上，在第三季度，我們也有一個強勁的季度。我們收到了全球各地的各種提名信。現在我們需要將它們轉換為預訂，對吧。我們還為我們的 EBD 解決方案贏得了北美 OEM，對吧。我們在這裡看到卡車和電動汽車製造商的持續牽引力。我們還為 RV 空間中的 RV 簽署了另一份協議。我們還在這裡簽署了兩輪車的交易。所以我們在這裡的核心業務做得很好，對吧。

And I think all the customers, the OEMs, they really acknowledge our superiority in terms of accuracy, latency, also bring in new innovation, use cases much, much faster in the past, right, when looking at connected services, right. So I mean, there's always a topic of renewals here. But also here, we signed a big contract in terms of statement of work for professional services for upgrading cloud for an expansion with one of the big OEMs.

而且我認為所有的客戶，OEM，他們真的承認我們在準確性、延遲方面的優勢，也帶來了新的創新，過去的用例要快得多，正確的，在查看連接服務時，正確的。所以我的意思是，這裡總是有更新的話題。但同樣在這裡，我們與一家大型 OEM 簽署了一份關於升級雲以進行擴展的專業服務工作說明書的大合同。

Our next question will come from Colin Langan of Wells Fargo.

我們的下一個問題將來自富國銀行的 Colin Langan。

Just going through the guidance for Q4. Revenue this quarter was $89 million. The fixed contracts were $23 million. So if I don't do any fixed contracts on the $66 million, production is supposed to actually recover sequentially. So what is actually getting worse that kind of gets us to sub-60 for Q4?

只是通過第四季度的指導。本季度收入為 8900 萬美元。固定合同金額為 2300 萬美元。因此，如果我不對這 6600 萬美元簽訂任何固定合同，那么生產實際上應該會按順序恢復。那麼實際上是什麼變得更糟，讓我們在第四季度低於 60？

Part of it clearly is consumption, right. And of course there's an FX impact that has got a bigger impact slightly towards the end of last quarter, but certainly in Q4. And then as I said, we haven't included any onetime deals in the guidance for Q4.

其中一部分顯然是消費，對吧。當然，外匯影響在上個季度末略有影響，但肯定是在第四季度。然後正如我所說，我們沒有在第四季度的指導中包含任何一次性交易。

Okay. Is consumption going to increase from the $19 million that you had in Q3? And there weren't that many one-time deals in Q3 anyway, right?

好的。消費是否會比第三季度的 1900 萬美元有所增加？無論如何，第三季度的一次性交易並不多，對吧？

No, but there's a drag effect of all the fixed contracts that you've done previously.

不，但是您之前完成的所有固定合同都會產生拖累效應。

So the consumption will be greater than $19 million, you're getting at?

所以消費將超過 1900 萬美元，你在說什麼？

We don't guide specifically on consumption.

我們不專門針對消費進行指導。

Okay. As we're thinking about going into '23, you've done I think $69 million of fixed year-to-date. So if you're sticking with that 40 rule, I mean how should we think about the drag into next year because I'm kind of trying to figure out this consumption of additional drag? I mean, is it going to be another $20 million, $30 million step down? I mean, any color you could provide in terms of the overhang as you kind of institute this policy into next year?

好的。當我們考慮進入 23 年時，你已經完成了我認為今年迄今為止固定的 6900 萬美元。因此，如果您堅持 40 條規則，我的意思是我們應該如何考慮明年的阻力，因為我有點想弄清楚這種額外阻力的消耗？我的意思是，會不會再減少 2000 萬美元、3000 萬美元？我的意思是，當你在明年制定這項政策時，你能提供什麼顏色？

Not specifically. As I said with the additional disclosure that we did this quarter, you should be able to make some assumptions and model out the pro forma royalties. The consumption utilizing the fixed contracts and the disclosure around prepaids and minimum commitment deals, and that as I said, this kind of guidepost that says by 2025 they're about equal.

不具體。正如我在本季度所做的額外披露中所說的那樣，您應該能夠做出一些假設並模擬出形式版稅。使用固定合同的消費以及圍繞預付款和最低承諾交易的披露，正如我所說，這種指南表明到 2025 年它們大致相等。

Okay. And just lastly, if I go to Slide 10, if I look at pro forma royalties that you provided, I mean year-to-date, you're down like 13%, light vehicle production is down 5%, and I thought you were gaining market share. Why are you underperforming light vehicle production year-to-date, even pro forma?

好的。最後，如果我看一下幻燈片 10，如果我看看你提供的形式版稅，我的意思是年初至今，你下降了 13%，輕型汽車產量下降了 5%，我以為你正在獲得市場份額。為什麼你們今年迄今為止的輕型汽車產量甚至在備考上都表現不佳？

It's driven by -- a lot by the mix and the production of each of the OEMs. So quarter-on-quarter, it can vary slightly, but I think if you look at kind of our pro forma royalties against IHS production, you see that it's a pretty consistent and in some cases a growing number.

它是由每個原始設備製造商的混合和生產驅動的。因此，季度環比可能略有不同，但我認為，如果您查看我們針對 IHS 生產的形式版稅，您會發現這是一個相當一致的數字，並且在某些情況下還在增長。

And also in my discussions with some of the OEMs, right, it's clear that they're also producing and delivering cars. But they're in some cases not fully equipped with all chipsets we needed and we are looking for.

在我與一些原始設備製造商的討論中，很明顯，他們也在生產和交付汽車。但在某些情況下，它們並沒有完全配備我們需要和正在尋找的所有芯片組。

Our next question will come from Nicolas Doyle of Needham & Company.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Needham & Company 的 Nicolas Doyle。

This is Nick Doyle on for Rajvi Gill. I'll just ask, what has the customer reaction been so far to your policy change? I mean, you talked about it a little bit, but I imagine that, that $40 million backlog would get filled up pretty quick. Any commentary on that?

這是 Rajvi Gill 的 Nick Doyle。我只想問，到目前為止，客戶對您的政策變更有何反應？我的意思是，你談了一點，但我想，4000 萬美元的積壓工作很快就會被填滿。對此有何評論？

Well, first of all, we haven't -- I mean, no, you may look at our earnings call today, but this is a internal company policy. It's not going to be widely communicated to our customers because there's a number of customers here and that's why we've provided some flexibility here with the $40 million forward number.

好吧，首先，我們沒有——我的意思是，不，你可能會看我們今天的財報電話會議，但這是公司的內部政策。它不會被廣泛地傳達給我們的客戶，因為這裡有很多客戶，這就是為什麼我們在這里為 4000 萬美元的遠期號碼提供了一些靈活性。

And as Stefan alluded to, we're in a position where we're not going to do any in Q4, again because of some of the currency and other factors that are causing customers to ask for discounts and concessions that we just can't accept. And that just becomes a business conversation between those customers and us.

正如 Stefan 所暗示的那樣，我們處於第四季度不會做任何事情的位置，同樣是因為一些貨幣和其他因素導致客戶要求我們無法提供的折扣和優惠接受。這只是這些客戶和我們之間的商業對話。

And as Stefan pointed out, we have very, very strong relationships that go back many years with these customers and they understand business economics and business conditions. And as we've always said, these are a discussion and a negotiation between the customers and Cerence.

正如 Stefan 所指出的，我們與這些客戶有著非常非常牢固的關係，這些客戶可以追溯到很多年前，他們了解商業經濟和商業狀況。正如我們一直所說，這是客戶和 Cerence 之間的討論和談判。

That makes sense. I just didn't know if you're saying you haven't even communicated that yet with the customers. I just didn't know if there was kind of a rush to get in line...

那講得通。我只是不知道你是不是說你甚至還沒有與客戶溝通過。我只是不知道是否有一種急於排隊的...

So with one customer -- so with one specific customer we had already various discussion about this topic, right, and then finally they accepted our view.

因此，對於一位客戶，對於一位特定的客戶，我們已經就該主題進行了各種討論，對，最後他們接受了我們的觀點。

Okay. And then just for my second question, you had mentioned the big win-back with the Big Tech customer. Can you elaborate there on kind of how you got that or anything more about that deal?

好的。然後就我的第二個問題，您提到了與大型科技客戶的巨大贏回。你能詳細說明你是如何得到這個的或關於那筆交易的更多信息嗎？

Yes. So there are a couple of aspects to consider, right. So first of all, right, we have now a razor sharp focus on our core business, yes, meaning product excellence, delivery excellence and driving innovation, yes. And at CES in January, we have showed for the first time our new so-called one-assistant with one-cloud and underlying one-sec, yes. And this is really compared to the state-of-art, big, big improvement, right. And this is new stake, we are setting a new de facto standard for the industry and we had various meetings starting also with the proof of concept. So we built a prototype together with this specific OEM. It was shown to the senior management up to Board Members and the CEO, and they're really excited about this performance. And yes, couple of days ago we got them the official nomination letter.

是的。所以有幾個方面需要考慮，對。所以首先，是的，我們現在非常專注於我們的核心業務，是的，這意味著卓越的產品、卓越的交付和推動創新，是的。在 1 月份的 CES 上，我們第一次展示了我們所謂的一云一秒一秒的新助手，是的。這真的與最先進的相比，很大，很大的改進，對吧。這是新的賭注，我們正在為行業設定一個新的事實上的標準，我們也從概念驗證開始舉行了各種會議。因此，我們與這個特定的 OEM 一起構建了一個原型。它向董事會成員和首席執行官的高級管理層展示，他們對這一表現感到非常興奮。是的，幾天前我們收到了他們的正式提名信。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question will come from Gavin Kennedy of Jefferies.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題將來自 Jefferies 的 Gavin Kennedy。

This is Gavin Kennedy on for David Kelley. Switching gears a little bit. On Slide 9, you mentioned that connected services declined in the quarter given declining legacy contract renewals, revenue and expiring contracts. Can you just remind us about how we should think about the cadence going into 4Q and then into fiscal year '23 for connected services?

這是大衛凱利的加文肯尼迪。稍微切換一下檔位。在幻燈片 9 中，您提到由於舊合同續簽、收入和到期合同的減少，本季度的互聯服務有所下降。您能否提醒我們，我們應該如何考慮進入第四季度以及進入 23 財年的互聯服務的節奏？

As we have said, one of the biggest drivers is the Toyota legacy deal, and we've shown you that's very -- it's just an amortization schedule. So we know exactly what the impact of that is, and we've disclosed that and we've talked about these older contracts based on older technologies that are kind of winding down. We've talked about kind of the $5 million impact on that.

正如我們所說，最大的驅動因素之一是豐田的傳統交易，我們已經向您展示了這非常 - 這只是一個攤銷時間表。所以我們確切地知道它的影響是什麼，我們已經披露了這一點，我們已經討論了這些基於舊技術的舊合同，這些合同正在逐漸結束。我們已經談到了 500 萬美元的影響。

Clearly, the other thing that's happened is during the pandemic and with slower production units, we've lost a bit of the size of the curve of the amortization schedule of connected services. But we see that improving as these headwinds get towards the end of their implications. And then as Stefan said, we continue to win a lot of deals which you can talk about. So on a go-forward basis, we see strength in our Connected revenues.

顯然，發生的另一件事是在大流行期間，由於生產單位較慢，我們已經失去了連接服務的攤銷時間表曲線的大小。但我們看到，隨著這些逆風接近其影響的盡頭，這種情況正在改善。然後正如 Stefan 所說，我們繼續贏得很多可以談論的交易。因此，在前進的基礎上，我們看到了互聯收入的優勢。

Yes. Maybe let me also add a few remarks here, right. So when looking at our analytics portal, we see that the number of transactions are now back to pre-COVID time, that's a good indicator. As I also mentioned during last earnings call, I said 40% of our backlog is for connected services, yes. And also that 2 of our 3 largest deals in the company's history are related to connected services, right, and they will hit the road mid of next calendar year, right.

是的。也許讓我在這裡也補充幾點，對吧。因此，當查看我們的分析門戶時，我們看到交易數量現在回到了 COVID 之前的時間，這是一個很好的指標。正如我在上次財報電話會議中提到的那樣，我說我們 40% 的積壓是用於連接服務的，是的。而且，我們公司歷史上最大的 3 筆交易中有 2 筆與互聯服務有關，對，它們將在明年年中上路，對。

And as Tom already alluded to, right, most of the deals we have signed recently have this hybrid component, meaning Edge plus connected services. And we will see also some upgrades of some older versions in the market over the next couple of quarters.

正如湯姆已經提到的那樣，對，我們最近簽署的大多數交易都有這種混合組件，即邊緣加上連接服務。在接下來的幾個季度中，我們還將看到市場上一些舊版本的一些升級。

And then maybe as a follow-up, amid the change in the fixed contracts as well as the ongoing macro volatility. Any thoughts on potential cost-cutting measures or how we should think about margins going forward with the near-term revenue pressure?

然後可能作為後續行動，在固定合約的變化以及持續的宏觀波動中。對潛在的成本削減措施有什麼想法，或者我們應該如何考慮近期收入壓力下的利潤率？

Yes. Also here, I mean, already just recently, we started with an exercise here also internally. We call it convergence, right. So in the past, we had 4 BOs, we consolidated those BOs, right, and we have now across all Bos, 2 Bos the same technology stack, as said, it's so-called one-assistant, one-cloud and one-core technologies. That's one important aspect here, convergence and that will also increase productivity and also reduce costs in general, especially when it comes to the one-cloud solution.

是的。同樣在這裡，我的意思是，就在最近，我們也在內部開始了這裡的練習。我們稱之為收斂，對。所以過去我們有 4 個 BO，我們合併了這些 BO，對，現在我們在所有的 Bos，2 個 Bos 上都有相同的技術堆棧，正如所說，它所謂的一助手、一云和一核技術。這是這裡的一個重要方面，即融合，這也將提高生產力並降低總體成本，尤其是在涉及單一云解決方案時。

Secondly, Tom is driving 2 programs, [I2I] and [Rock]. Maybe, Tom, do you want to?

其次，Tom 正在駕駛 2 個程序，[I2I] 和 [Rock]。也許，湯姆，你想要嗎？

Yes. We are driving 2 projects here in Q4. One way kind of code named I2I, innovation to implementation. And that's looking at our R&D resources, our professional services resources and product management. Playing upon what Stefan just said around some of the technology convergence that we have, it's also aligned to a strategy exercise we did, which was just completed, but now we're in the phase of how do we operationalize that plan as we finalize our FY '23 budget and the multi plan.

是的。我們在第四季度推動了 2 個項目。一種名為 I2I 的代碼，創新實現。這就是我們的研發資源、我們的專業服務資源和產品管理。根據 Stefan 剛才關於我們擁有的一些技術融合所說的話，它也與我們剛剛完成的戰略練習相一致，但現在我們正處於我們如何實施該計劃的階段，因為我們最終確定了我們的23 財年預算和多計劃。

And we're using an external partner to help us with the I2I project, a firm that I used quite successfully at Nuance. So we have a lot of experience with them, and we understand their methodology and process. And then we're internally running a project to look across all of the other functions within the company, with an eye towards just continuous improvement and continuously to drive efficiency and productivity. Both of those projects will be completed in Q4, and we will have an implementation plan for FY '23 going forward, and they will certainly advise our operating plans, our budgets and our multiyear plan going forward.

我們正在使用外部合作夥伴來幫助我們完成 I2I 項目，我在 Nuance 非常成功地使用了這家公司。所以我們對他們有很多經驗，我們了解他們的方法和流程。然後我們在內部運行一個項目來審視公司內的所有其他職能，著眼於持續改進並不斷提高效率和生產力。這兩個項目都將在第四季度完成，我們將製定 23 財年的實施計劃，他們肯定會為我們的運營計劃、預算和未來的多年計劃提供建議。

And our next question will come from Jeff Van Rhee of Craig-Hallum.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Craig-Hallum 的 Jeff Van Rhee。

I've got several. First, I just want to circle back to the guide down. So on the quarter, we're looking like $43.5 million, give or take, below consensus for Q3. You're telling us you're going to 0 out the fixed number of 23, give or take. What help -- just can you get me as close as you can to break down the remainder of the shortfall? I know you've addressed it in sort of tangential ways, but can you put a little precision on that?

我有好幾個。首先，我只想繞回指南。因此，在本季度，我們看起來像 4350 萬美元，給予或接受，低於第三季度的共識。您是在告訴我們，您將在 23 的固定數字中減為 0，給予或接受。有什麼幫助——你能不能讓我盡可能地接近以打破剩餘的缺口？我知道你已經以某種切線的方式解決了這個問題，但你能說得更準確一點嗎？

We don't specifically guide by line of revenue. But as we talked about, it's the 0 fixed contracts. It's the change in consumption, we've pushed out of the guidance. There's still opportunities, but they're very unpredictable around specialty deals. Those are kind of onetime activities. We've got a lot of wins, but we're seeing a slower bookings-to-revenue conversion for some of our adjacent markets in a couple of areas. And then, of course, the FX is a piece of that.

我們沒有具體按收入線進行指導。但正如我們所說，這是 0 個固定合同。這是消費的變化，我們已經退出了指導。仍然有機會，但它們在特殊交易方面非常難以預測。這些都是一次性的活動。我們取得了很多勝利，但我們看到我們在幾個地區的一些相鄰市場的預訂收入轉換速度較慢。然後，當然，FX 就是其中的一部分。

Did bookings and win rates meet your expectations? How did they perform in the quarter?

預訂和中獎率是否達到您的預期？他們在本季度的表現如何？

We don't report bookings, except for twice a year. So we'll be updating that in -- at the end of the year for the second half and for the full year. We are confident in meeting our internal targets on bookings. And we'll report that at the end of Q4. Stefan can give you an indication of...

我們不報告預訂，每年兩次除外。因此，我們將在下半年和全年年底更新它。我們有信心實現我們的內部預訂目標。我們將在第四季度末報告這一點。 Stefan 可以告訴你...

Again, we had a lot of nomination letters and awards here, right. And let me just say what I said before, right, so I think we see a lot of traction, for example, for EVD emergency vehicle detection, right. We find a contract with a marquee North American OEM in Q3. On the adjacencies, right, we see more and more demand here from trucks, RV now recreational vehicles, right, 2-wheelers, yes. 2-wheelers is a bit slower in production as originally anticipated.

同樣，我們在這裡收到了很多提名信和獎項，對吧。讓我說一下我之前說過的話，對，所以我認為我們看到了很多牽引力，例如，對於 EVD 緊急車輛檢測，對。我們在第三季度與一家大型北美 OEM 簽訂了合同。在鄰近地區，我們看到卡車越來越多的需求，現在是休閒車，對，兩輪車，是的。正如最初預期的那樣，兩輪車的生產速度要慢一些。

But other than that, I think we are on a good winning track here overall. Also in China, I mean, we just mentioned also in the openings that the first 3 customers of our new Cerence Cloud Services Solution, Chinese OEMs, right, followed by Vietnamese and some European OEMs, right. So that's clearly created an advantage for us.

但除此之外，我認為我們在這裡總體上處於良好的勝利軌道上。同樣在中國，我的意思是，我們剛剛在開幕詞中也提到了我們新的 Cerence 雲服務解決方案的前 3 個客戶，中國 OEM，對，其次是越南和一些歐洲 OEM，對。所以這顯然為我們創造了優勢。

And we also have a very tight innovation road map, right. We are thinking about exterior speech, right, immersive entertainment with our AI solutions for sound effects, right. We brought in out in our new cloud safety aspects, for example, tracking the driver behavior, right, car location tracking, right, including geo fencing, right. These are new things we have added to the new cloud and we have also signed a contract in this area last quarter. So overall, as Tom said, we are on track for our internal targets.

我們也有一個非常緊湊的創新路線圖，對吧。我們正在考慮使用我們的 AI 音效解決方案進行外部語音，對，沉浸式娛樂，對吧。我們引入了新的雲安全方面，例如，跟踪駕駛員行為，對，汽車位置跟踪，對，包括地理圍欄，對。這些是我們添加到新雲中的新內容，上個季度我們還簽署了該領域的合同。總的來說，正如湯姆所說，我們正在實現內部目標。

One last, if I could. The other license revenue/ -- I don't know, specialty deals. I think you had a big one in the September quarter and December quarter. And then if I recall, I thought in the March quarter on the reset of guidance, you derisked it and said these are too unpredictable, and we're taking them out. Just to be clear, I mean what -- how material -- what were you expecting there? Because I thought that was already derisked.

最後一個，如果可以的話。其他許可收入/ -- 我不知道，特殊交易。我認為你在 9 月季度和 12 月季度有一個大的。然後，如果我記得，我想在 3 月季度重置指導時，你冒昧地說這些太不可預測了，我們正在取消它們。為了清楚起見，我的意思是 - 多麼重要 - 你在那裡期待什麼？因為我認為那已經被貶低了。

There was still a few million dollars, I think, of some deals that we thought we have an opportunity, but those haven't advanced as quickly as we've thought.

我認為，在我們認為有機會的一些交易中，仍有幾百萬美元，但這些交易並沒有我們想像的那麼快。

As there are no further questions in the queue, I would now like to turn the conference back to Richard Yerganian for closing remarks.

由於隊列中沒有其他問題，我現在想將會議轉回給 Richard Yerganian 做閉幕詞。

Thank you, Chris, and thank you for -- to everyone for joining us on the call this morning. We look forward to speaking with you in the near future. Thank you.

謝謝你，克里斯，感謝大家今天早上加入我們的電話會議。我們期待在不久的將來與您交談。謝謝你。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you all for participating. You may now disconnect, and have a pleasant day.

今天的電話會議到此結束。謝謝大家的參與。您現在可以斷開連接，度過愉快的一天。