Doma Holdings Inc (DOMA) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Doma's First Quarter Financial Results Earnings 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 Doma 第一季度財務業績電話會議。 （操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。

I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Matt Thunander, Investor Relations for Doma. Please go ahead.

現在我想將會議交給今天的發言人，Doma 投資者關係部的 Matt Thunander。請繼續。

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining Doma's First Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. Earlier today, Doma issued a press release announcing its first quarter results, which is also available at investor.doma.com. Leading today's discussion will be Doma's Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Max Simkoff; and Chief Financial Officer, Mike Smith. Following management's prepared remarks, we will open up the call to questions.

謝謝你，接線員。大家下午好，感謝您參加 Doma 2023 年第一季度收益電話會議。今天早些時候，Doma 發布了一份新聞稿，宣布其第一季度業績，該新聞稿也可在 Investor.doma.com 上獲取。 Doma 創始人兼首席執行官 Max Simkoff 將主持今天的討論；和首席財務官邁克·史密斯。在管理層準備好發言後，我們將開始提問。

Before we begin, I would like to remind you that our discussion will contain predictions, expectations, forward-looking statements and other information about our business that is based on management's current expectations as of the date of the presentation. Forward-looking statements include but are not limited to Doma's expectations or predictions of financial and business performance, market conditions, competitive position and industry outlook. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks uncertainties and other factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from historical results and/or from our forecast, including those set forth in Doma's most recently filed annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings with the SEC.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒您，我們的討論將包含預測、期望、前瞻性陳述和有關我們業務的其他信息，這些信息基於管理層截至演示之日的當前預期。前瞻性陳述包括但不限於 Doma 對財務和業務業績、市場狀況、競爭地位和行業前景的預期或預測。前瞻性陳述受到風險不確定性和其他因素的影響，這些因素可能導致我們的實際結果與歷史結果和/或我們的預測存在重大差異，包括 Doma 最近提交的 10-K 表格年度報告和後續文件中規定的內容與美國證券交易委員會。

For more information, please refer to the risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed in Doma's most recently filed annual report on Form 10-K and other SEC filings. All cautionary statements that we are -- that we make during this call are applicable to any forward-looking statements we make wherever they appear. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties and other factors discussed in Doma's SEC filings. Do not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as Doma is under no obligation and expressly disclaims any responsibility for updating, altering or otherwise revising any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

欲了解更多信息，請參閱 Doma 最近提交的 10-K 表格年度報告和其他 SEC 文件中討論的風險、不確定性和其他因素。我們在本次電話會議中做出的所有警告性聲明均適用於我們在任何地方做出的任何前瞻性聲明。您應該仔細考慮 Doma 的 SEC 文件中討論的風險和不確定性以及其他因素。請勿過度依賴前瞻性陳述，因為 Doma 不承擔任何義務，並明確表示不承擔因新信息、未來事件或其他原因而更新、更改或以其他方式修改任何前瞻性陳述的責任，除非另有要求。法律。

Additionally, during this conference call, we will also refer to non-GAAP financial measures, including retained premium and fees, adjusted gross profit, adjusted EBITDA and the other measures described in our earnings release. Our GAAP results and a description of our non-GAAP measures with a full reconciliation to GAAP can be found in the first quarter 2023 earnings release, which has been furnished to the SEC and is available on our investor website.

此外，在本次電話會議中，我們還將參考非公認會計準則財務指標，包括留存保費和費用、調整後毛利潤、調整後 EBITDA 以及我們收益報告中描述的其他指標。我們的 GAAP 結果以及我們的非 GAAP 措施的描述以及與 GAAP 的全面調節可以在 2023 年第一季度收益發布中找到，該發布已提供給 SEC，並可在我們的投資者網站上找到。

And with that, I'll turn the call over to Max Simkoff, CEO of Doma.

接下來，我會將電話轉給 Doma 首席執行官 Max Simkoff。

Thank you, Matt. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. In the first quarter of 2023 and as part of a comprehensive review of our business, we made significant progress towards solidifying a more scalable and mission-driven go-forward strategy while also driving progress towards reaching adjusted EBITDA profitability. We have strengthened our focus on deploying our instant underwriting technology, which we believe is our core value proposition and what will enable us to deliver a profound impact on the housing affordability pressures that face nearly every American homeowner.

謝謝你，馬特。大家下午好，感謝您今天加入我們。 2023 年第一季度，作為對我們業務進行全面審查的一部分，我們在鞏固更具可擴展性和任務驅動的前進戰略方面取得了重大進展，同時也在推動實現調整後 EBITDA 盈利能力方面取得進展。我們加強了對部署即時承保技術的關注，我們相信這是我們的核心價值主張，將使我們能夠對幾乎每個美國房主面臨的住房負擔能力壓力產生深遠的影響。

There are 2 themes that I'm going to be focused on today: first, we will discuss the significant progress we've made in finalizing our 4 go-forward strategies to more efficiently and profitably deploy our proven instant underwriting technology with the end goal of making homeownership more affordable; second, I will provide an update on our efforts to get to profitability before turning the call over to our CFO, Mike Smith, who will discuss our financial results in more detail.

今天我要重點討論兩個主題：首先，我們將討論我們在最終確定 4 項前進戰略方面取得的重大進展，以更有效、更有利地部署我們經過驗證的即時承保技術，實現最終目標使購房變得更加負擔得起；其次，我將介紹我們為實現盈利所做的努力的最新情況，然後將電話轉交給我們的首席財務官邁克·史密斯，他將更詳細地討論我們的財務業績。

While the last several years have brought with them a number of challenges to the housing and mortgage markets, Doma's critical mission has remained focused on making the home-buying process better, faster and more affordable. In support of that mission, the benefits we've proven for mortgage originators using our technology are significant. And in today's market, there is now an even more important stakeholder for us to help alleviate pressure for, homeowners themselves.

儘管過去幾年給住房和抵押貸款市場帶來了許多挑戰，但 Doma 的關鍵使命仍然集中在使購房過程更好、更快、更實惠。為了支持這一使命，我們已經證明使用我們的技術為抵押貸款發起人帶來了巨大的好處。在當今的市場上，現在有一個更重要的利益相關者可以幫助我們減輕房主本身的壓力。

Just the last few quarters, the home affordability challenge for everyday Americans has gone from bad to severe. The National Association of Homebuilders estimates that roughly 73% of all U.S. households cannot afford the current median-priced new home. According to the Federal Reserve Bank's most recent February 2023 data, the median American household would now have to spend 40% of their income to afford the median-priced house. For reference, U.S. households are considered cost-burdened when they spend over 30% of income on housing costs, leaving less room for them to purchase necessary items.

就在過去幾個季度，普通美國人的住房負擔能力挑戰變得越來越嚴峻。全國住宅建築商協會估計，大約 73% 的美國家庭無力承擔目前中位價的新房。根據美聯儲 2023 年 2 月的最新數據，美國家庭中位數現在必須花費其收入的 40% 來購買中位數價格的房屋。作為參考，當美國家庭將收入的 30% 以上用於住房成本時，即被視為成本負擔，他們購買必需品的空間就較小。

To make matters worse, homeownership is actually 18% less affordable than just a year ago and 5% less affordable than the peak of the 2008 housing bubble. Unfortunately, the title industry has been contributing to this challenge with title closing and settlement costs, which according to Fannie Mae, are estimated to make up about 1% of the purchase price in a typical home purchase transaction, averaging upwards of $2,400 per home.

更糟糕的是，擁有住房的負擔能力實際上比一年前低了 18%，比 2008 年房地產泡沫頂峰時期的負擔能力低了 5%。不幸的是，產權行業一直在通過產權交割和結算成本來應對這一挑戰，據房利美 (Fannie Mae) 稱，在典型的購房交易中，這些費用估計約佔購買價格的 1%，平均每套房屋高達 2,400 美元以上。

In finalizing our go-forward strategy, it became clear that making home-buying more affordable needed to be front and center. As discussed on prior earnings calls, we have been actively seeking ways to more efficiently and more profitably deploy our proven and patented instant underwriting technology as we believe this is our core value proposition and the key to modernizing the greater than $29 billion title insurance market while driving down the significant cost of homeownership. The advances we have established via our instant underwriting technology show that it is the only proven at-scale tool of its kind. Our patented decision engine's multicomponent machine learning models have successfully underwritten over 85,000 loans for many of the largest national mortgage originators in the country since it launched in 2017. These lenders have seen that 80% of orders they sent to our technology received instant approval. Our world-class team of machine learning experts have achieved this outcome by training our models on over 20 years risk data through hundreds of thousands of past title policies.

在最終確定我們的前進戰略時，很明顯，必須把讓購房變得更加實惠成為首要任務。正如之前的財報電話會議中所討論的那樣，我們一直在積極尋求更有效、更有利可圖地部署我們經過驗證的專利即時承保技術的方法，因為我們相信這是我們的核心價值主張，也是實現價值超過 290 億美元的產權保險市場現代化的關鍵，同時顯著降低住房擁有成本。我們通過即時承保技術取得的進步表明，它是同類中唯一經過驗證的大規模工具。自 2017 年推出以來，我們獲得專利的決策引擎的多組件機器學習模型已成功為該國許多最大的全國性抵押貸款發放機構承保了超過 85,000 筆貸款。這些貸方發現，他們發送到我們技術的訂單中有 80% 獲得了即時批准。我們世界一流的機器學習專家團隊通過數十萬份過往產權保單的 20 多年風險數據來訓練我們的模型，從而實現了這一成果。

In summary, the technology is able to eliminate the bulk of the title search, exam and curative process, reduce time to close by up to 5 days and enable significantly lower fulfillment costs for mortgage originators, all while exhibiting similar claims rates as the traditional title process. Over the past several months, we have conducted a comprehensive review of our business to evaluate the optimal organizational structure for us to successfully deliver on our mission and to maximize shareholder value. We have identified and are now finalizing a singular transformative core strategy for the business where we would better harness the power and benefits of our instant underwriting technology via the efficient and profitable distribution of our core technology by external partners.

總之，該技術能夠消除大量的產權搜索、檢查和治療過程，將成交時間縮短多達 5 天，並顯著降低抵押貸款發起人的履約成本，同時表現出與傳統產權相似的索賠率過程。在過去的幾個月裡，我們對我們的業務進行了全面審查，以評估最佳的組織結構，以幫助我們成功履行我們的使命並實現股東價值最大化。我們已經確定並正在敲定一項單一的變革性核心業務戰略，通過外部合作夥伴對我們的核心技術進行高效且有利可圖的分配，我們將更好地利用我們的即時承保技術的力量和優勢。

With respect to that new strategy, we have made solid progress towards finalizing potential partnerships with some of the largest players in the national mortgage origination market to bring down refinance specific costs for end consumers associated with title and closing. Expanding our partnership distribution channel remains one of our top priorities. While we are unable to provide further specific details today, we are excited about the profitable and impactful opportunity at hand.

就這一新戰略而言，我們在與全國抵押貸款發放市場上一些最大的參與者敲定潛在合作夥伴關係方面取得了堅實的進展，以降低與所有權和交割相關的最終消費者的再融資特定成本。擴大我們的合作夥伴分銷渠道仍然是我們的首要任務之一。雖然我們今天無法提供進一步的具體細節，但我們對眼前的有利可圖和有影響力的機會感到興奮。

As we strengthen our focus on our underwriting technology business, we are taking a hard look at everything in the business that is noncore. Regarding our local division, we previously communicated that we have been moving aggressively to close on profitable branches to refocus our efforts on more profitable opportunities, leading to the closure of an additional 13% of our total branch footprint during the first quarter.

當我們加強對承保技術業務的關注時，我們正在認真審視該業務中的所有非核心業務。關於我們的本地部門，我們之前表示，我們一直在積極關閉盈利的分支機構，以便將我們的努力重新集中在利潤更高的機會上，導致第一季度額外關閉了我們分支機構總數的 13%。

As part of our go-forward strategy and refined focus on the distribution of our underwriting technology, our local leadership team also finalized and implemented a strategic plan in the first quarter to ensure that the local division will accelerate the company's path to profitability for the remainder of the year.

作為我們前進戰略和對承保技術分銷的精細化關注的一部分，我們的本地領導團隊還在第一季度最終確定並實施了一項戰略計劃，以確保本地部門將加速公司剩餘時間的盈利之路今年的。

This brings me to the second key theme of today's call. I'd like to provide a brief update on our focus on getting to adjusted EBITDA profitability by the end of this year. We are still making steady progress toward achieving adjusted EBITDA profitability as quickly and as efficiently as possible, exemplified by the cost-cutting measures we enacted in the second half of 2022, the most recent round of which we expect to be fully visible in our quarterly numbers starting in Q2 of this year.

這讓我想到了今天電話會議的第二個關鍵主題。我想簡要介紹一下我們致力於在今年年底前實現調整後 EBITDA 盈利能力的最新情況。我們仍在盡快、高效地實現調整後 EBITDA 盈利能力方面取得穩步進展，我們在 2022 年下半年實施的成本削減措施就是例證，我們預計最近一輪的削減措施將在我們的季度報告中充分體現。從今年第二季度開始的數字。

We also believe that our refined strategy will bolster our profitability efforts. Additionally, the business will continue to benefit from the healthy stability provided by our underwriting division as we remain dedicated to the continued success of the underwriter and as we continue rolling out our instant underwriting technology for our independent agents.

我們還相信，我們完善的戰略將增強我們的盈利能力。此外，隨著我們繼續致力於承銷商的持續成功，並繼續為我們的獨立代理人推出即時承保技術，該業務將繼續受益於我們承保部門提供的健康穩定性。

Despite persistent macro pressures, we do feel adjusted EBITDA profitability is still attainable by the end of 2023. That being said, we remain cautiously optimistic regarding this time line as we understand the importance of preserving the ability for our new transformative strategy to take shape. Given our revised plans and that we believe our market share is less than 2% of the overall title insurance market today, we foresee a long runway of opportunity ahead of us to grow our business.

儘管宏觀壓力持續存在，我們確實認為到 2023 年底，調整後的 EBITDA 盈利能力仍然可以實現。話雖如此，我們對這一時間線仍持謹慎樂觀態度，因為我們了解保持新轉型戰略形成能力的重要性。鑑於我們修改後的計劃，並且我們相信我們的市場份額不到當今整個產權保險市場的 2%，我們預計我們的業務增長還有很長的路要走。

In closing, Doma's narrowed focus on a core strategy to provide better, faster and more affordable homeownership for the majority of Americans has given us a renewed energy to continue executing even amidst the set of challenging market conditions. To ensure success in our mission, we will continue to reevaluate and reduce attention to anything noncore to this mission, and we remain focused on achieving adjusted EBITDA profitability by the end of this year.

最後，Doma 將重點放在為大多數美國人提供更好、更快和更實惠的住房所有權的核心戰略上，這為我們提供了新的能量，即使在充滿挑戰的市場條件下也能繼續執行。為了確保我們的使命取得成功，我們將繼續重新評估並減少對任何非核心使命的關注，我們仍然致力於在今年年底前實現調整後的 EBITDA 盈利能力。

As we are putting the finishing touches on our new strategy, we expect we'll be able to provide more specific and detailed information within a few months. We look forward to updating you on our progress throughout the year. I will now pass the call over to our CFO, Mike Smith, to provide you with further details on our recent financial performance. Mike?

當我們對新戰略進行最後的修改時，我們預計將能夠在幾個月內提供更具體和詳細的信息。我們期待向您通報我們全年的進展情況。我現在將把電話轉接給我們的首席財務官邁克·史密斯，向您提供有關我們近期財務業績的更多詳細信息。麥克風？

Thank you, Max, and good afternoon, everyone. Today, I will be providing an overview of Doma's first quarter financial results. Please refer to our earnings release filed earlier today for full details of the quarter.

謝謝你，麥克斯，大家下午好。今天，我將概述 Doma 第一季度的財務業績。請參閱我們今天早些時候提交的收益報告，了解本季度的完整詳細信息。

Unless otherwise specified, all the comparisons cited in my remarks are quarter-over-quarter or sequential comparisons to the fourth quarter of last year. Consistent with prior seasonal patterns, the fourth and first quarters tend to reflect lower activity compared to the second and third quarters, which typically show more strength. In line with our expectations, we had seen some seasonal softness coupled with challenging macro conditions that impacted our Q1 results. Additionally, elevated mortgage rates continue to impact refinance and purchase volumes for Doma and other industry participants.

除非另有說明，我的言論中引用的所有比較都是與去年第四季度的季度環比或環比比較。與之前的季節性模式一致，第四季度和第一季度的活動往往低於第二季度和第三季度，而第二季度和第三季度通常表現出更強的實力。與我們的預期一致，我們看到了一些季節性疲軟以及充滿挑戰的宏觀環境，影響了我們第一季度的業績。此外，抵押貸款利率上升繼續影響 Doma 和其他行業參與者的再融資和購買量。

The latest MBA Mortgage Finance Forecast is projecting that the 30-year fixed mortgage rate will remain above 6% in the second quarter of 2023 and will improve to 5.5% by the end of the year. These still elevated rates will likely continue to put pressure on refinance and purchase order volumes industry-wide for the foreseeable future. That said, in Q1, we did see an encouraging strengthening of both our open order pipeline as well as our conversion rates from open to closed orders, which we expect to create tailwinds for both our closed order and RP&F numbers in the second quarter and into the third quarter.

最新的MBA抵押貸款金融預測預計，2023年第二季度30年期固定抵押貸款利率將保持在6%以上，到年底將提高至5.5%。在可預見的未來，這些仍然較高的利率可能會繼續給全行業的再融資和採購訂單量帶來壓力。也就是說，在第一季度，我們確實看到我們的未平倉訂單管道以及從未平倉訂單到已平倉訂單的轉換率都得到了令人鼓舞的加強，我們預計這將為我們的已平倉訂單和 RP&F 數字在第二季度和整個季度創造順風。第三季度。

Our primary measure of unit economics is adjusted gross profit, which was $4 million in the first quarter of 2023, which compares to $14 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. Adjusted gross profit as a percentage of RPF was 18% in the first quarter compared to 40% in the fourth quarter of last year. Adjusted EBITDA, our main profitability measure, was a negative $22 million compared to negative $15 million in Q4 2022.

我們衡量單位經濟效益的主要指標是調整後毛利潤，2023 年第一季度調整後毛利潤為 400 萬美元，而 2022 年第四季度為 1400 萬美元。第一季度調整後毛利潤佔 RPF 的比例為 18%，而 2022 年第四季度調整後毛利潤佔 RPF 的比例為 18%。去年第四季度增長至40%。我們的主要盈利指標調整後 EBITDA 為負 2200 萬美元，而 2022 年第四季度為負 1500 萬美元。

As Max mentioned, our first quarter adjusted gross profit and adjusted EBITDA did benefit from the expense actions we took to rightsize our cost structure in the second half of 2022. However, the decline in these measures was largely due to the fact that the full impact of the employment actions we initiated in the fourth quarter of 2022 will not be completely realized until the second quarter of 2023. Additionally, we had a number of onetime employee benefit-related reductions and a favorable reserve development in Q4, which did not repeat in Q1. Combined with some seasonal softness and continued challenging macro pressures, this led to a decline in adjusted EBITDA compared to Q4 of 2022.

正如馬克斯提到的，我們第一季度的調整後毛利潤和調整後 EBITDA 確實受益於我們在 2022 年下半年為調整成本結構而採取的費用行動。然而，這些措施的下降很大程度上是由於全面影響我們在 2022 年第四季度發起的就業行動中的一部分要到 2023 年第二季度才能完全實現。此外，我們在第四季度進行了多項與員工福利相關的一次性削減和有利的準備金開發，但這種情況在 2023 年第二季度沒有重複。 Q1.再加上季節性疲軟和持續面臨的宏觀壓力，導致調整後 EBITDA 較 2022 年第四季度有所下降。

In terms of our top line performance in the first quarter, we reported revenue on a GAAP basis of $74 million, down 23% quarter-over-quarter. As a reminder, GAAP revenue includes the portion of third-party agent premiums that Doma does not retain. So we focus on Doma's retained premiums and fees, or RP&F, as an important metric, which includes -- which excludes the premium retained by third-party agents.

就第一季度的營收業績而言，我們報告的按 GAAP 計算的收入為 7400 萬美元，環比下降 23%。提醒一下，GAAP 收入包括 Doma 不保留的第三方代理保費部分。因此，我們重點關注 Doma 的保留保費和費用（RP&F），將其作為一個重要指標，其中包括——不包括第三方代理商保留的保費。

We believe this is a much better representation of Doma's underlying top line performance. With this in mind, RP&F was $25 million in the first quarter, down 29% quarter-over-quarter, driven by a 60% decline in refinance closed orders and a 25% decline in purchase closed orders, both directionally expected as mortgage rates remained high in Q1, along with seasonal softness. In the first quarter, purchase closed orders made up 61% of our direct residential volume and 85% of our direct residential retained premiums and fees, which compared to 46% and 78% in the fourth quarter of 2022, respectively.

我們相信這更好地體現了 Doma 的基本營收業績。考慮到這一點，第一季度 RP&F 為 2500 萬美元，環比下降 29%，原因是再融資已完成訂單下降 60%，購買已完成訂單下降 25%，這兩種情況都是抵押貸款利率保持不變的方向性預期。第一季度的高水平，以及季節性的疲軟。第一季度，購買成交訂單占我們直接住宅交易量的 61%，占我們直接住宅保留保費和費用的 85%，而 2022 年第四季度分別為 46% 和 78%。

As mentioned previously, while we saw significant impacts to Q1 closed orders and RP&F due to both expected seasonality effects and volatile mortgage rate activity, in late Q4 and early Q1, we have seen strong week-over-week improvements in open order momentum in the past 6 to 8 weeks as we head into the spring selling season, which we believe will deliver tailwinds on close orders and RP&F across our direct business in the second and third quarters of this year. We expect these tailwinds to benefit adjusted EBITDA at the same time that we realize the benefits of the cost-cutting actions that we took in late 2022. As Max mentioned, we remain highly focused on achieving our goal of becoming adjusted EBITDA profitable this year.

如前所述，雖然我們看到由於預期的季節性影響和不穩定的抵押貸款利率活動對第一季度已結訂單和 RP&F 產生了重大影響，但在第四季度末和第一季度初，我們發現未結訂單勢頭逐周強勁改善。過去 6 至 8 週，我們即將進入春季銷售季節，我們相信這將為今年第二和第三季度我們直接業務的成交訂單和 RP&F 帶來推動。我們預計這些有利因素將使調整後 EBITDA 受益，同時我們也意識到 2022 年底採取的成本削減措施的好處。正如 Max 提到的，我們仍然高度關注實現今年調整後 EBITDA 盈利的目標。

One last item to note for the first quarter of 2023 is that we did not incur any goodwill impairment charges. With that, thank you for joining us on the call today. I'll now pass the call back to Max for closing remarks before we open the call to questions.

2023 年第一季度需要注意的最後一點是，我們沒有產生任何商譽減值費用。感謝您今天加入我們的電話會議。現在，在我們開始提問之前，我將把電話轉回給馬克斯，讓他作結束語。

Thanks, Mike. I'm incredibly proud of how we've navigated such a volatile period, not only the housing market but in the overall economy. We held firm in our goals of providing better, faster and more affordable solutions. We made significant strides in finalizing our new company strategy positioning Doma for long-term success and ensuring we play a pivotal role in mitigating the severe home affordability concerns being experienced nationwide. We look forward to updating everyone with our priorities and progress on our next earnings call. Operator, we're ready for questions.

謝謝，邁克。我對我們如何度過如此動蕩的時期感到無比自豪，不僅是房地產市場，而且是整個經濟。我們堅定地致力於提供更好、更快、更實惠的解決方案。我們在敲定新公司戰略方面取得了重大進展，將 Doma 定位為長期成功，並確保我們在緩解全國范圍內嚴重的住房負擔能力問題方面發揮關鍵作用。我們期待在下一次財報電話會議上向大家通報我們的優先事項和進展情況。接線員，我們準備好回答問題了。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Tom White from D.A. Davidson & Co.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 D.A. 的 Tom White。戴維森公司

This is Wyatt Swanson on for Tom. Realized you guys paused the rollout of Doma Intelligence to the local channel late last year, but for those markets that have been deployed and live for a while, is there any early data or kind of maybe cohort analysis you could share about the branches or the markets where it got rolled out earliest? And whether you're seeing any kind of change in the market share in that area, maybe a change in the trajectory of closed orders that would signify that the technology is really resonating and getting attention?

我是懷亞特·斯旺森 (Wyatt Swanson) 替湯姆發言。意識到你們去年底暫停了 Doma Intelligence 向本地渠道的推出，但對於那些已經部署並運行了一段時間的市場，是否有任何早期數據或可能的同類群組分析可供分享，有關分支機構或最早推出的市場？您是否看到該領域的市場份額發生任何變化，也許關閉訂單軌蹟的變化表明該技術確實引起了共鳴並受到關注？

Sure. Wyatt, this is Max. So I would -- I think I'll kind of refer back to some things we probably also touched on in the last call. In the locations that did get deployed on the technology throughout last year, as we saw those locations process more and more orders using the technology, we saw very positive signs that indeed it was working and producing the desired outcomes. That said, we made a conscious effort, as you mentioned, last quarter, to put that deployment on pause because, frankly, our primary focus in our local division is contributing as much to accelerating our path to adjusted EBITDA profitability as possible.

當然。懷亞特，這是麥克斯。所以我想——我想我會回顧一下我們在上次通話中可能也談到的一些事情。在去年確實部署了該技術的地點，當我們看到這些地點使用該技術處理越來越多的訂單時，我們看到了非常積極的跡象，表明它確實正在發揮作用並產生了預期的結果。也就是說，正如您在上個季度提到的那樣，我們有意識地努力暫停該部署，因為坦率地說，我們本地部門的主要重點是盡可能加快我們實現調整後 EBITDA 盈利能力的步伐。

I think the other thing I'd point out, which I mentioned in some of the remarks, the initial remarks earlier today is we've now seen this technology deployed at national scale across, quite frankly, one of the largest mortgage originators in the country. We not only know that it works. We know that it works incredibly well to speed up the process and also introduce much needed efficiencies that we think can be better harnessed to bring down the cost to the end consumer. So as I mentioned, with regards to the singular new strategy that we're focusing on, that's really where our focus is going to be, making sure we get that proven technology deployed on a broader scale with some partners in the broader mortgage ecosystem and ensuring that the efficiencies we've proven can show up in the form of ultimately lower cost to the end customer.

我想我要指出的另一件事，我在今天早些時候的一些發言中提到過，坦率地說，我們現在已經看到這項技術在全國范圍內部署，這是美國最大的抵押貸款發起人之一。國家。我們不僅知道它有效。我們知道，它在加快流程方面效果非常好，並帶來了急需的效率，我們認為可以更好地利用這些效率來降低最終消費者的成本。正如我所提到的，關於我們正在關注的單一新戰略，這確實是我們的重點所在，確保我們與更廣泛的抵押貸款生態系統中的一些合作夥伴一起在更廣泛的範圍內部署經過驗證的技術，並且確保我們已經證明的效率能夠以最終降低最終客戶成本的形式體現出來。

Our next question comes from the line of Michael Ward from Citi.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗銀行的邁克爾·沃德（Michael Ward）。

I guess maybe just high level. Sort of wondering what has changed with respect to the EBITDA guide. It sounded like maybe you're a little bit more cautious than previously. So wondering if you can expand on that.

我想也許只是高水平。有點想知道 EBITDA 指南發生了什麼變化。聽起來你可能比以前更加謹慎了。所以想知道你是否可以對此進行擴展。

Sure. Why don't I give a quick kind of general comment, and then Mike can probably comment on some of the specifics that we think you'd see from last quarter to this quarter and where we think those are going to net out throughout the balance of the year. I used the term cautiously optimistic because I want to stress that regardless of macro conditions, and this is the way that we've learned to operate our business over the last couple of years, we still intend and see a path to get to adjusted EBITDA profitability by the end of this year. So -- and in fact, we've got multiple levers we could pull to get there. The phrase I've used around cautious optimism just means that we are very, very focused on making sure that we launch our new singular strategy successfully.

當然。為什麼我不快速給出一般性評論，然後邁克可能會評論我們認為您從上個季度到本季度會看到的一些具體細節，以及我們認為這些細節將在整個平衡過程中體現出來的地方今年的。我使用謹慎樂觀這個詞是因為我想強調，無論宏觀條件如何，這也是我們在過去幾年中學會的經營業務的方式，我們仍然打算並看到一條實現調整後 EBITDA 的途徑今年年底實現盈利。所以——事實上，我們有多種槓桿可以實現這一目標。我在謹慎樂觀中使用的短語只是意味著我們非常非常專注於確保我們成功推出新的單一戰略。

We've seen this housing affordability issue really become front and center in such a quick period of time. And we think we're uniquely advantaged to drive the success of our business by solving that problem. And we just want to make sure that we balance some flexibility that we may need to launch that program successfully with management's confidence that we have several levers we can pull to ensure that we get to adjusted EBITDA profitability by the end of the year.

我們看到住房負擔能力問題在如此短的時間內真正成為首要問題。我們認為，通過解決這個問題，我們擁有獨特的優勢來推動我們業務的成功。我們只是想確保在成功啟動該計劃所需的一些靈活性與管理層的信心之間取得平衡，管理層相信我們可以利用多種槓桿來確保我們在年底前實現調整後的 EBITDA 盈利能力。

Mike, do you want to just comment on some of the specific kind of movement from Q4 of last year to Q1 of this year and how that gives us further confidence that we're on track for our plans?

邁克，您是否想簡單評論一下從去年第四季度到今年第一季度的一些具體變化，以及這如何讓我們進一步相信我們正在按計劃實施？

Sure, Max. Yes, Michael, I think one of the things that we might point out here, too, is that if you look back at Q4, we pointed this out at the time that we had several onetime items that we pointed out that favorably impacted Q4. And then if you look at Q1 here, obviously not quite the performance that we had expected, but there was only really one item that really surprised us. We didn't know from like a top line basis that revenue is typically soft in the first quarter. We also didn't have the repeat of those Q1 benefits that benefited the fourth quarter. We did have a decent-sized large claims provision that did impact us in Q1. That was somewhat unexpected.

當然，馬克斯。是的，邁克爾，我認為我們也可能在這裡指出的一件事是，如果你回顧第四季度，我們當時指出了這一點，我們指出了幾個對第四季度產生有利影響的一次性項目。然後，如果你看一下第一季度，顯然沒有達到我們預期的表現，但只有一項真正讓我們感到驚訝。我們不知道第一季度的收入通常會疲軟。我們也沒有重複那些使第四季度受益的第一季度的好處。我們確實有規模相當大的索賠準備金，這確實在第一季度對我們產生了影響。這有點出乎意料。

And then also our conversion rates were not what we had hoped that they would be in the first quarter. So there were a couple of things that did surprise us, but otherwise, we did expect the first quarter to be somewhat not quite as good as the fourth quarter.

而且我們第一季度的轉化率也沒有達到我們的預期。因此，有幾件事確實讓我們感到驚訝，但除此之外，我們確實預計第一季度的表現會不如第四季度。

Really helpful. And then maybe the expense reduction measures from 4Q expecting to sort of flow through in 2Q, I -- just sort of curious if you could address that a bit how that should work -- play out?

真的很有幫助。然後，也許第四季度的費用削減措施預計會在第二季度實施，我只是有點好奇你是否能解決這個問題，應該如何運作？

Yes. That's -- Michael, that's a great question. And again, as we talked during the fourth quarter and again during the first quarter, we'll reiterate that those expense actions that we took in the fourth quarter, we'll see that full benefit fully reflected in the second quarter. Obviously, we continue to look at our cost structure and continue to find meaningful progress there. We're laser-focused on that. So you'll see that benefit coming through fully in the second quarter.

是的。那是——邁克爾，這是一個很好的問題。正如我們在第四季度和第一季度所討論的那樣，我們將重申我們在第四季度採取的費用行動，我們將看到全部效益在第二季度得到充分體現。顯然，我們將繼續審視我們的成本結構，並繼續在這方面取得有意義的進展。我們全神貫注於此。因此，您將看到這一優勢在第二季度完全顯現。

Okay. And maybe just sort of to get your guys thoughts sort of on like the underlying trends that impact the top line. Just curious if what you guys think is driving tailwinds in order numbers and conversion rates?

好的。也許只是為了讓大家了解影響營收的潛在趨勢。只是好奇你們認為是什麼推動了訂單數量和轉化率？

Yes, it's a great question. And honestly, in this market, it's really difficult to say. And I'd say 2 things here. One is that, as Mike mentioned, one unexpected outcome that we saw in Q1 was that the conversion rate of orders that were open in Q4 that were then closing in Q1 were significantly lower than what we would have expected for that time of the year. And again, I wish I could give you a causal versus a correlational answer. I'm not really sure it matters because it was an observed behavior that happened at a time when things were pretty volatile in the overall markets, right? You had a lot of volatility in both directions on 30-year fixed rate, you had bank failures. You had some odd consumer spending behavior, you had low housing inventory, so there were a lot of things going on there, and we're not really sure how those influenced those conversion rates.

是的，這是一個很好的問題。說實話，在這個市場上，真的很難說。我想在這裡說兩件事。其一，正如邁克提到的，我們在第一季度看到的一個意想不到的結果是，在第四季度打開、然後在第一季度關閉的訂單的轉化率明顯低於我們在一年中那個時候的預期。再次，我希望能給你一個因果關係與相關關係的答案。我不太確定這是否重要，因為這是在整體市場相當不穩定的時期發生的一種觀察到的行為，對吧？ 30 年期固定利率雙向波動很大，銀行倒閉。你有一些奇怪的消費者支出行為，你的住房庫存很低，所以那裡發生了很多事情，我們不太確定這些是如何影響這些轉化率的。

On the flip side, the conversion rates seem to have more than normalized and come back to what we'd expect, and we have seen very encouraging open order momentum for really the last 6 to 8 weeks. Some of that is probably that we're getting into the spring selling season. But other than that, I'd probably attribute it to the fact that we are still in some really great markets, and we've got great people out there executing and doing what they're supposed to do to ensure that they drive the revenue that's going to help us get to adjusted EBITDA profitable on the time line that we expect.

另一方面，轉換率似乎已經超過正常化水平，並回到了我們的預期，並且在過去 6 到 8 週內，我們看到了非常令人鼓舞的未結訂單勢頭。其中部分原因可能是我們即將進入春季銷售季節。但除此之外，我可能會將其歸因於這樣一個事實：我們仍然處於一些非常好的市場中，並且我們有優秀的人才在那裡執行和做他們應該做的事情，以確保他們推動收入這將幫助我們在預期的時間內實現調整後的 EBITDA 盈利。

Our final question comes from the line of Karol Chmiel from JMP.

我們的最後一個問題來自 JMP 的 Karol Chmiel。

I'm calling in for Matt from JMP. And one of the questions was already kind of answered and that was regarding the momentum of the open orders, and I guess the 6 -- the most recent 6 to 8 weeks of the past quarter were the drivers. But is there any additional granularity you can give us on that 6 to 8 weeks? Is there anything specific to it?

我要找 JMP 的馬特。其中一個問題已經得到了解答，那就是關於未結訂單的勢頭，我想上個季度最近 6 到 8 週的 6 周是驅動因素。但是對於這 6 到 8 週，您是否可以向我們提供任何其他詳細信息？有什麼具體的事情嗎？

I don't think -- I mean, again, not really other than -- again, I hate to sound repetitive, but I commend our people across the business for really -- after getting through a tough second half of last year where we did a considerable amount of expense reduction and streamlining the business and navigating some volatile mortgage rates and broader macro activity in Q1, I think they've just been executing really well. And they've been focused on delivering revenue -- leading indicators of revenue for the business that we would expect to show up in the form of a top line tailwind for Q2 and into Q3.

我不認為——我的意思是，再一次，不是真的——再一次，我討厭聽起來重複，但我真的讚揚我們整個行業的員工——在經歷了去年下半年的艱難時期，我們在第一季度，我們大幅削減了開支，精簡了業務，應對了一些波動較大的抵押貸款利率和更廣泛的宏觀活動，我認為他們的執行情況非常好。他們一直專注於提供收入——我們預計該業務收入的領先指標將以第二季度和第三季度的頂線順風的形式出現。

All right. Fair enough. And then the next question is just -- it was kind of answered in the past. But regarding the new strategy, and what you mentioned in the beginning of the closing of the unprofitable branches. Is there a commitment to keeping the local presence for branches that are profitable?

好的。很公平。下一個問題是——過去已經有過答案了。但關於新戰略，以及您在關閉不盈利的分支機構之初提到的內容。是否承諾保持盈利的分支機構在當地的存在？

Good question. So here's the way we think about it. We have our confidence that there are 2 elements of the core strategy going forward that need to be front and center right now. The first is, as I mentioned, getting our technology more efficiently deployed through some transformative partnerships in a broader mortgage ecosystem to help alleviate the challenges with home affordability. And the second is that our underwriting business, which continues to be a stable platform that we believe can deliver profitable growth going forward continues to execute on its objectives and partner with our independent agent community. So those are the 2 kind of top of mind areas of our core strategy that we're immediately focused on.

好問題。這就是我們的思考方式。我們相信，未來的核心戰略中有兩個要素現在需要成為首要和中心。正如我所提到的，首先是通過更廣泛的抵押貸款生態系統中的一些變革性合作夥伴關係，更有效地部署我們的技術，以幫助緩解住房負擔能力的挑戰。第二是我們的承保業務，它仍然是一個穩定的平台，我們相信它可以帶來未來的盈利增長，繼續執行其目標並與我們的獨立代理社區合作。因此，這些是我們立即關注的核心戰略的兩個首要考慮領域。

As it relates to the local business, and this I think is consistent with what we said last quarter, its primary focus is on making sure that it contributes to the maximum amount of profits of the business to help us reach our goal of adjusted EBITDA profitability by the end of the year. And I'm extraordinarily proud of our local leadership team for not only making a tough decision to exit some unprofitable markets very quickly but also putting together and implementing a plan in the first quarter that is designed to help us accelerate our path to adjusted EBITDA profitability.

由於它與本地業務相關，我認為這與我們上季度所說的一致，它的主要重點是確保它為業務利潤做出最大貢獻，以幫助我們實現調整後 EBITDA 盈利能力的目標到今年年底。我為我們當地的領導團隊感到非常自豪，他們不僅做出了迅速退出一些無利可圖的市場的艱難決定，而且還在第一季度製定並實施了一項計劃，旨在幫助我們加快實現調整後 EBITDA 盈利能力的道路。

Thank you, and thank you, everyone. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

謝謝你們，也謝謝大家。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。