Everforth, Inc. (EFOR) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Greetings. Welcome to the ASGN Incorporated first-quarter 2024 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) I will now turn the conference over to your host, Kimberly Esterkin, Vice President of Investor Relations. You may begin.

各位好。歡迎參加 ASGN Incorporated 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。(接線員指示) 現在我將把會議交給本次主持人——投資人關係副總裁 Kimberly Esterkin。您可以開始。

Good afternoon. Thank you for joining us today for ASGN's first quarter 2024 conference call. With me are Ted Hanson, Chief Executive Officer; Rand Blazer, President; and Marie Perry, Chief Financial Officer. Before we get started, I would like to remind everyone that our commentary contains forward-looking statements. Although we believe these statements are reasonable, they are subject to risks and uncertainties, and as such, our actual results could differ materially from those statements.

各位下午好。感謝各位今天參加 ASGN 2024 年第一季電話會議。與我一同出席的有執行長 Ted Hanson、總裁 Rand Blazer，以及財務長 Marie Perry。在開始之前，我想提醒各位，我們的評論包含前瞻性陳述。雖然我們相信這些陳述是合理的，但其仍受風險與不確定性影響，因此我們的實際結果可能與這些陳述存在重大差異。

Certain of these risks and uncertainties are described in today's press release and in our SEC filings. We do not assume any obligation to update statements made on this call. For your convenience, our prepared remarks and supplemental materials can be found in the Investor Relations section of our website at investors.asgn.com.

其中部分風險與不確定性已在今日新聞稿及我們向 SEC 提交的文件中說明。我們不承擔更新本次電話會議中所作陳述的任何義務。為方便各位，我們的事先準備講稿與補充資料可於 investors.asgn.com 網站的投資人關係專區查閱。

Please also note that on this call, we will be referencing certain non-GAAP measures, such as adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and free cash flow. These non-GAAP measures are intended to supplement the comparable GAAP measures. Reconciliations between GAAP and non-GAAP measures are included in today's press release.

也請注意，在本次電話會議中，我們將引用若干非 GAAP 指標，例如調整後 EBITDA、調整後淨利與自由現金流。這些非 GAAP 指標旨在補充可比較的 GAAP 指標。GAAP 與非 GAAP 指標之間的調節表已包含於今日新聞稿中。

I will now turn the call over to Ted Hanson, Chief Executive Officer.

現在我將把電話會議交給執行長 Ted Hanson。

Thank you, Kim, and thank you for joining ASGN's first quarter 2024 earnings call. ASGN achieved solid results for the first quarter, revenues of $1.05 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $108.3 million were both near the top end of our guidance range. When we spoke last quarter, we expected our commercial segment with fee revenue trends in Q1 comparable to that of Q4, while our Federal government segment would continue to achieve year-over-year top line growth. It's evident from our segment results, which I'll review in detail shortly, market conditions were as we predicted.

謝謝 Kim，也感謝各位參加 ASGN 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。ASGN 第一季取得穩健成果，營收 10.5 億美元與調整後 EBITDA 1.083 億美元皆接近我們財測區間的上緣。上季我們提到，我們預期商業部門在第一季的費用型營收趨勢將與第四季相近，而聯邦政府部門將持續實現年對年營收成長。從我們的分部結果（我稍後將詳細說明）可見，市場狀況如我們所預期。

Our commercial clients continue to be cautious and acutely focused on where and when they will spend. Importantly, despite IT budgets being slow to be executed, our clients continue to leverage our high-end consulting capabilities, so our commercial consulting revenues increased both year-over-year and sequentially.

我們的商業客戶仍然審慎，並高度聚焦於何時、以及在哪些領域支出。重要的是，儘管 IT 預算執行進度偏慢，我們的客戶仍持續運用我們高階顧問服務能力，因此我們的商業顧問營收不論年對年或季對季皆有所成長。

On the government side of our business, revenues improved year over year and visibility began to build towards the end of the quarter with the passage of the appropriations bill in late March. While a release and Federal spend will not happen automatically, the approval of the budget is a step in the right direction.

在政府業務方面，營收年對年有所改善，且隨著 3 月下旬撥款法案通過，季度末的能見度開始提升。雖然資金釋出與聯邦支出不會自動發生，但預算獲得核准是朝正確方向邁進的一步。

Speaking of moving in the right direction, we continue to proactively shape and evolve our operations to position our business for continued growth. Our industry diverse, large account portfolio not only served us well in good times, but also a more difficult macro condition. Our Federal government services provided cyclical support to balance out our five diverse commercial industry verticals.

談到朝正確方向前進，我們持續主動調整並演進營運，以使公司具備持續成長的定位。我們跨產業、多元化的大型客戶組合，不僅在景氣良好時表現出色，在較具挑戰的總體環境下亦同樣發揮效益。我們的聯邦政府服務提供了週期性的支撐，以平衡我們五個多元的商業產業垂直領域。

We are also focusing on the right type of services that of higher value, higher-margin, IT consulting, where projects and visibility are longer and client relationships are stickier, providing our business with enhanced stability across market cycles.

我們也聚焦於正確類型的服務——更高價值、更高毛利的 IT 顧問服務；此類專案週期與能見度更長、客戶關係更具黏著度，能在不同市場循環中為我們的業務提供更強的穩定性。

The highlight of our quarterly results, IT consulting revenues comprised approximately 57% of Q1 2024 revenues as compared to roughly 50% in the prior year period. In addition, adjusted EBITDA benefits from higher commercial consulting margin.

本季業績的亮點是：IT 顧問營收約占 2024 年第一季營收的 57%，相較去年同期約為 50%。此外，調整後 EBITDA 亦受惠於較高的商業顧問毛利率。

ASGN has made great strides in growing our IT consulting business and with the vast addressable market, there are many more opportunities for further growth. This growth will be driven in part by continuing to develop and foster the right customer relationships with the fortune 1000 and government clients.

ASGN 在擴大 IT 顧問業務方面已取得長足進展，而在龐大的可服務市場之下，仍有更多進一步成長的機會。此一成長部分將由持續建立並深化與《財富》1000 大企業及政府客戶的適切客戶關係所驅動。

Our long-standing trusted client relationships are what drove our progression into IT consulting, and these clients will continue to pull us up the IT services pyramid. Importantly, as we await increased spending, we are making the right investments in our people, training and upskilling our teams in the latest technological developments, including key areas such as cybersecurity, data analytics, cloud and AI, all with our customers' need to mind.

我們長期且值得信賴的客戶關係，推動了我們向 IT 顧問服務的進階，而這些客戶也將持續帶動我們在 IT 服務金字塔中向上發展。同樣重要的是，在等待支出回升之際，我們正對人才做出正確投資，透過訓練與技能提升，使團隊掌握最新技術發展，包括資安、資料分析、雲端與 AI 等關鍵領域，並以客戶需求為核心。

Technology is shifting at a rapid pace, and it is essential that we stay ahead of this change to remain competitive. We are also executing on the right strategic decisions when it comes to our capital allocation. While Marie will discuss our recent Term Loan B refinancing shortly, I am pleased to announce that just this week, our Board of Directors approved a new two-year $750 million share repurchase authorization. This authorization is the largest in ASGN's history, reflecting our commitment to deliver value to our stockholders by using our solid free cash flow to buy back shares while at the same time ensuring that we remain ready to execute on the right strategic acquisitions.

科技正以極快速度變化，我們必須走在變革之前，才能維持競爭力。在資本配置方面，我們也在執行正確的策略決策。Marie 稍後將說明我們近期的 Term Loan B 再融資；我也很高興宣布，就在本週，我們董事會核准了一項新的兩年期 7.5 億美元庫藏股回購授權。此授權為 ASGN 歷史上規模最大，反映我們致力於運用穩健的自由現金流回購股份，為股東創造價值，同時也確保我們隨時準備好執行合適的策略性併購。

With that as a background, let's turn to our segment performance beginning with our largest segment by revenue commercial. Our commercial segment services large mid-market accounts and fortune 1000 companies. Commercial segment revenues for the quarter declined by low double digits year over year. Revenues for this segment benefited from the growth in our consulting business, offset by continued softness in the more cyclical areas of our assignment business.

在此背景之下，讓我們從營收規模最大的商業部門開始檢視分部表現。我們的商業部門服務大型中型市場客戶以及《財富》1000 大企業。本季商業部門營收年對年下滑低雙位數百分比。該分部營收受惠於顧問業務成長，但被較具景氣循環性的派遣（assignment）業務持續疲弱所抵銷。

Commercial consulting revenues increased 2% for the quarter compared to the year ago period, and we were also up 3.2% sequentially. Commercial consulting bookings of approximately $323.2 million translated to a book-to-bill of 1.2 times on a trailing 12-month basis.

本季商業顧問營收較去年同期成長 2%，季對季亦成長 3.2%。商業顧問接單約 3.232 億美元，換算過去 12 個月的 book-to-bill 為 1.2 倍。

Bookings were again weighted towards renewals in the first quarter. That said, even as IT budgets continue to be prioritized and managed, our customers are actively spending in the areas of cybersecurity, cloud and data analytics. Investments in cloud and data infrastructure are often considered a precursor to investments in the AI space, and we are actively working with our clients to solidify their AI foundations.

第一季的接單再次偏向續約案。即便 IT 預算仍持續被優先排序與控管，我們的客戶仍在資安、雲端與資料分析等領域積極支出。對雲端與資料基礎設施的投資，通常被視為投入 AI 領域之前的前置條件；我們正積極與客戶合作，鞏固其 AI 基礎。

Turning to our vertical performance, all five commercial industry verticals declined year over year. That said, we saw year over year growth in three sub verticals, including utilities, health care providers and telecom Account. On a sequential basis, two verticals: TMT, business and government services appear to be stabilizing on a same billable day adjusted basis.

就垂直產業表現而言，五個商業產業垂直領域皆呈年對年下滑。不過，我們在三個次垂直領域看到年對年成長，包括公用事業、醫療服務提供者，以及電信客戶。以相同可計費天數調整後的基礎來看，季對季方面有兩個垂直領域——TMT 以及商業與政府服務——似乎正在趨於穩定。

We also saw sequential growth in several subverticals on a same billable day adjusted basis, including regional banks, telecom, media, health care payers, energy, consumer staples and aerospace and defense count. While it's encouraging to see these sequential improvements, we have not yet seen an inflection point in IT spending.

以相同可計費天數調整後的基礎來看，我們也在多個次垂直領域看到季對季成長，包括區域性銀行、電信、媒體、醫療保險支付方、能源、民生必需品，以及航太與國防客戶。雖然看到這些季對季改善令人鼓舞，但我們尚未看到 IT 支出的拐點。

Nevertheless, our commercial consulting bookings remained solid and during the first quarter, our teams won work across multiple service areas. Cybersecurity continues to be an area of growth for our commercial segment. And as discussed last quarter, collaboration with our Federal government segment on cybersecurity services has only added to this strength.

儘管如此，我們的商業顧問接單仍維持穩健，第一季期間，我們的團隊在多個服務領域贏得專案。資安仍是我們商業部門的成長領域。且如上季所述，與聯邦政府部門在資安服務上的協作，進一步強化了這項優勢。

During the quarter, we won a contract delivering technical remediation and advisory services to a fortune 500 insurance client. Our comprehensive governance, risk and compliance solutions helped our clients mature their security operations and become an improved governance and oversight focused organization.

本季我們贏得一項合約，為一家《財富》500 大保險客戶提供技術補救與諮詢服務。我們全面的治理、風險與合規（GRC）解決方案，協助客戶提升其資安營運成熟度，並成為更聚焦於治理與監督的組織。

Beyond cybersecurity, our product and application services are resonating with clients that are looking for opportunities to scale and become more efficient. One way we've delivered efficiency to clients is be our world-class nearshore delivery center in Mexico. In the first quarter, a global leader in medical transportation approached our commercial team following difficulties they were having with their current offshore provider.

除資安之外，我們的產品與應用服務也正獲得那些尋求擴大規模並提升效率的客戶青睞。我們為客戶帶來效率的一種方式，是透過位於墨西哥、世界級的近岸交付中心。在第一季，一家全球醫療運輸領導業者因其現有離岸供應商合作不順，主動接洽我們的商業團隊。

Our Mexico delivery centers stepped in to offer a team of experts from developers to testers to have extensive experience working together in a much more convenient time then for our clients.

我們在墨西哥的交付中心挺身而出，提供一支由開發人員到測試人員組成的專家團隊，彼此之間具備長期協作的豐富經驗，且相較之下能在更便利的時區為客戶服務。

Our nearshore consultants are not only impressing our client base, but they are also enjoying the projects they are performing and their work environment. In fact, I'm very pleased to report that earlier this month, our commercial segment brand Apex Systems was recognized as one of the best places to work for women in Mexico for the second year in a row, providing an inclusive multicultural environment is core to ASGN belief systems and corporate policies, and this award is a testament to our continued commitment to career development for all.

我們的近岸顧問不僅令客戶群印象深刻，他們也享受所執行的專案以及其工作環境。事實上，我很高興地報告，本月稍早，我們的商業事業部品牌 Apex Systems 連續第二年獲評為墨西哥最適合女性工作的企業之一；提供包容且多元文化的環境是 ASGN 信念體系與公司政策的核心，而此獎項也證明我們持續致力於所有人的職涯發展。

Along the lines of career development, our growing data and AI practice is being supported by internal investments in talent, technology partnerships, intellectual property and training. We are proactively training our workforce in the US and Mexico in the latest GenAI technology.

在職涯發展方面，我們持續成長的資料與 AI 業務，正透過對人才、技術合作夥伴、智慧財產與訓練的內部投資來支撐。我們正主動在美國與墨西哥培訓員工掌握最新的 GenAI 技術。

For one of the world's largest telecommunications providers, for example, our AI skill sets enabled us to win a 12-month consulting engagement supporting a GenAI application development program. We are providing our client with scalable access to talent, technical leadership and large language model training.

例如，針對全球最大的電信服務供應商之一，我們的 AI 技能組合使我們贏得一項為期 12 個月的顧問服務案，支援一項 GenAI 應用程式開發計畫。我們為客戶提供可擴展的人才供給、技術領導力以及大型語言模型訓練。

In another instance, for an oil and gas company that ranks amongst the top 10 of the fortune 500, we are leading an implementation of the databricks unity catalog, a cloud-based platform that offers a unified governance layer for enterprise data and AI. Our client has over 100 databricks workspaces for deployments in the cloud and our project team is tasked with helping our clients develop a governance structure related around the instability, security posture and cost allocation of these workspaces.

另有一例，針對一家名列《財富》500 強前 10 名的石油與天然氣公司，我們正主導導入 Databricks Unity Catalog——一個雲端平台，為企業資料與 AI 提供統一的治理層。該客戶在雲端部署中擁有超過 100 個 Databricks 工作區，而我們的專案團隊負責協助客戶建立治理架構，涵蓋這些工作區的穩定性、安全態勢與成本分攤。

Our team of consultants is currently collaborating with databricks and our clients' internal IT team to build automation to onboard these databricks workspaces with ease and repeatability. Our pipeline of data and AI work continues to grow, and we look forward to supporting our clients as they focus on data preparation, developing use cases and ultimately implementing their own AI platforms.

我們的顧問團隊目前正與 Databricks 以及客戶內部 IT 團隊合作，建置自動化機制，以便輕鬆且可重複地將這些 Databricks 工作區上線導入。我們在資料與 AI 方面的案源管線持續成長，並期待在客戶聚焦於資料準備、開發使用案例，並最終導入其自有 AI 平台的過程中提供支援。

Now let's turn to our Federal government segment, which provides mission critical solutions to the Department of Defense, the Intelligence Community and Federal Civilian Agencies. Federal segment revenues for the first quarter were up solidly year over year. Contract backlog was $2.9 billion at the end of the first quarter or a coverage ratio of 2.2 times the segment's trailing 12 month revenues.

接下來談談我們的聯邦政府事業部，該事業部為國防部、情報界以及聯邦文職機構提供任務關鍵解決方案。第一季聯邦事業部營收較去年同期穩健成長。截至第一季末，合約積壓金額為 29 億美元，覆蓋倍數為該事業部過去 12 個月營收的 2.2 倍。

New contract awards were approximately $197.3 million, translating to a book-to-bill of 0.9 times on a trailing 12-month basis. With the recent passage of the Federal budget, awards previously deferred by the continuing resolution are beginning to work their way through the procurement system.

新合約得標金額約為 1.973 億美元，換算為過去 12 個月基礎的接單出貨比（book-to-bill）為 0.9 倍。隨著近期聯邦預算通過，先前因持續決議（continuing resolution）而延後的標案，正開始逐步進入採購流程。

We have been in pursuit of new awards throughout the budgeting process and now hope that with the recent appropriations bill, our proposal submitted and awaiting award will begin to convert at a higher velocity. The recently passed Federal budget allocates funds to several key service areas in which our government teams have an established leadership presence, one of which is the area of cybersecurity.

在整個預算編列過程中，我們持續追求新的得標機會；如今隨著最新撥款法案通過，我們已提交且正等待授標的提案，期望能以更快速度轉化為得標。近期通過的聯邦預算，將資金配置至數個關鍵服務領域，而我們的政府團隊在其中已建立領先地位，其中之一即為資安領域。

In the first quarter, our Federal government segment won a $120 million five year recomplete cybersecurity contract with the Department of Health and Human Services. Under this contract, our team will provide comprehensive advanced managed cybersecurity services, direct intelligence, analytics and data forensics to the centers for Medicare and Medicaid services and their health care marketplace.

第一季，我們的聯邦政府事業部贏得美國衛生與公共服務部（HHS）一項 1.2 億美元、為期五年的資安續約（recomplete）合約。依據該合約，我們的團隊將為聯邦醫療保險與醫療補助服務中心（CMS）及其健康保險市場提供全面的進階託管式資安服務、直接情報、分析與資料鑑識。

The newly approved Federal budget also allocates increased funds towards responsible AI applications. In addition to our growing AI presence on the commercial side of our business, our Federal government segment remains recognized as one of the US government to leading AI contractors in both mission and enterprise IT.

新近核准的聯邦預算亦增加對負責任 AI 應用的資金配置。除了我們在商業端持續擴大的 AI 佈局外，我們的聯邦政府事業部仍被公認為美國政府在任務系統與企業 IT 兩方面的領先 AI 承包商之一。

During the first quarter, our national security and intelligence business received additional funding to support the DoD in developing, deploying and integrating its Next-Gen AI capabilities.

第一季，我們的國家安全與情報業務獲得額外資金，以支援國防部（DoD）開發、部署並整合其下一代 AI 能力。

We also won a new contract to support AI enabled open source intelligence solutions for which our team will provide extensive training and program support. We continue to win contracts focused on digital transformation and emerging technology services. Leveraging more than two decades of experience as the leading Microsoft solutions partner in Azure.

我們也贏得一項新合約，以支援 AI 驅動的開源情報解決方案；在此合約下，我們的團隊將提供大量訓練與計畫支援。我們持續贏得聚焦於數位轉型與新興技術服務的合約。憑藉逾二十年作為 Azure 領先 Microsoft 解決方案合作夥伴的經驗。

During the first quarter, we expanded our contract ceiling with the IRS to provide digital transformation services, IT operations, application management and engineering services. We also broadened our work with the Army's Program Executive Office for simulation, training and instrumentation. For this particular Army office, we provide full project life cycle services ranging from project management, modeling and simulation to emerging technology integration and logistics support.

第一季，我們擴大了與美國國稅局（IRS）的合約上限，以提供數位轉型服務、IT 營運、應用程式管理與工程服務。我們也擴展了與陸軍模擬、訓練與儀器化計畫執行辦公室（Program Executive Office）的合作。針對該陸軍辦公室，我們提供涵蓋專案全生命週期的服務，從專案管理、建模與模擬，到新興技術整合與後勤支援。

With that, I will turn the call over to Marie to discuss the first quarter results and our second quarter 2024's guidance.

接下來，我把電話交給 Marie，請她說明第一季業績以及我們對 2024 年第二季的指引。

Thanks Ted. It's great to speak with everyone this afternoon. First quarter revenues of $1.05 billion were near the top end of our guidance range and reflects growth in our commercial consulting and Federal government business. Revenues from the commercial segment were $731.5 million, down 12.1% compared to the prior year. Revenues from commercial consulting, the largest of our high margin revenue stream totaled $277 million, up 2% year-over-year and up 3.2% sequentially. Revenues from our Federal government segment were $317.5 million, up 7% year-over-year.

謝謝 Ted。很高興今天下午與各位交流。第一季營收為 10.5 億美元，接近我們指引區間的上緣，反映商業顧問服務與聯邦政府業務的成長。商業事業部營收為 7.315 億美元，較去年同期下降 12.1%。商業顧問服務（我們高毛利營收來源中規模最大者）營收合計 2.77 億美元，年增 2%，季增 3.2%。聯邦政府事業部營收為 3.175 億美元，年增 7%。

Turning to margins. Gross margin for the first quarter of 2024 was 28.2%, down 70 basis points from the first quarter of last year due to a higher mix of revenues from our Federal government segment, which have a lower gross margin than commercial segment revenues.

接著談毛利率。2024 年第一季毛利率為 28.2%，較去年第一季下降 70 個基點，原因在於聯邦政府事業部營收占比提高，而其毛利率低於商業事業部。

Gross margin for the commercial segment was 32%, up 50 basis points year-over-year due to growth in our commercial consulting revenues. Gross margin for the Federal government segment was 19.7%, down 190 basis points year-over-year, primarily due to contract mix as well as a higher volume of firm fixed price projects that were ramping up in the prior year, creating a difficult comp.

商業事業部毛利率為 32%，年增 50 個基點，主要受商業顧問服務營收成長帶動。聯邦政府事業部毛利率為 19.7%，年減 190 個基點，主要由於合約組合影響，以及前一年有較高比例的固定總價（firm fixed price）專案處於爬坡期，導致比較基期較為不利。

SG&A expense for the quarter was $210.2 million or 20% of revenues compared to $224.1 million or 19.9% of revenues in the prior year. SG&A expense also included $1.2 million in acquisition, integration and strategic planning expenses that were not included in our guidance estimates. As expected, interest expense increased year-over-year related to rising interest rates and our refinancing this past August.

本季銷售、一般及行政（SG&A）費用為 2.102 億美元，占營收 20%；去年同期為 2.241 億美元，占營收 19.9%。SG&A 費用亦包含 120 萬美元的併購、整合與策略規劃費用，該部分未納入我們的指引估計。如預期，利息費用因利率上升以及我們去年 8 月的再融資而較去年同期增加。

Going forward, however, we will see a reduction in our interest expense. In mid-March, we successfully refinanced our Term Loan B. This refinancing closed on March 13, and was the first high-yield repricing of the year to price at SOFR plus 175 basis points, a 50 basis points reduction from our prior rate spread. As a result of this repricing, for the full year 2024, we anticipate cash interest savings of $1.1 million, net of transaction fees, followed by cash interest savings of approximately $2.5 million per year thereafter.

然而，展望未來，我們的利息費用將會下降。3 月中旬，我們成功為 Term Loan B 進行再融資；該再融資於 3 月 13 日完成，為今年首筆高收益貸款重新定價，定價為 SOFR 加 175 個基點，較先前利差下調 50 個基點。因此，針對 2024 全年，我們預期在扣除交易費用後可節省現金利息 110 萬美元，之後每年可節省現金利息約 250 萬美元。

For the quarter, net income was $38.1 million. Adjusted EBITDA was $108.3 million and adjusted EBITDA margin was 10.3%. Our adjusted EBITDA margin reflects the payroll tax reset, which occurs at the beginning of every calendar year and has an approximate 100 basis points downward impact as we move from the fourth to the first quarter. At quarter end, cash and cash equivalents were $158.4 million, and we had full availability under our $500 million senior secured revolver and our net leverage ratio was 1.77 times.

本季淨利為 3,810 萬美元。調整後 EBITDA 為 1.083 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 10.3%。我們的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率反映薪資稅重置的影響；該重置每個曆年年初發生，從第四季進入第一季時約造成 100 個基點的下行影響。截至季末，現金及約當現金為 1.584 億美元；我們在 5 億美元的優先擔保循環信貸額度下仍有全額可用額度，淨槓桿比率為 1.77 倍。

Turning to our cash flow statement. Free cash flow for the quarter was $62.5 million. We deployed $79.7 million in cash to repurchase approximately 800,000 shares at an average price of $96.63 per share. Also, as Ted noted earlier, this week, our Board of Directors approved a new two year $750 million share repurchase plan, replacing and upsizing the prior $500 million optimization. We believe this increase in the size of our share repurchase program indicates our confidence and our continued ability to generate free cash flow.

接著談我們的現金流量表。本季自由現金流為 6,250 萬美元。我們動用 7,970 萬美元現金，以每股平均 96.63 美元的價格回購約 80 萬股。此外，如 Ted 先前提到，本週董事會核准一項新的兩年期 7.5 億美元股票回購計畫，以取代並擴大先前 5 億美元的最佳化方案。我們相信，擴大股票回購計畫的規模，顯示我們的信心，以及我們持續創造自由現金流的能力。

With solid free cash flow generation and full availability under our revolver, we have ample dry powder to make strategic acquisitions when the M&A market improves. In the meantime, we expect to continue to repurchase ASG and shares given their attractive valuation.

憑藉穩健的自由現金流產生能力，以及我們循環信貸額度（revolver）的完全可用性，我們擁有充足的「乾火藥」，可在併購（M&A）市場改善時進行策略性收購。在此期間，鑑於其具吸引力的估值，我們預期將持續回購 ASG 和公司股票。

Turning to guidance. Our financial estimates for the second quarter of 2024 are set forth in our earnings release and supplemental materials. These estimates are based on current market conditions. Our estimate assumes 63.5 billable days in the second quarter, which is 0.25 billable days more than the year ago period and 0.75 billable days more than Q1 of 2024. We expect market conditions and demand for our IT services in the second quarter to be similar to that of the first.

接著談財測指引。我們對 2024 年第二季的財務估計已載於新聞稿與補充資料中。這些估計係基於目前的市場狀況。我們的估計假設第二季有 63.5 個可計費工作日，較去年同期多 0.25 天，較 2024 年第一季多 0.75 天。我們預期第二季的市場狀況與對 IT 服務的需求，將與第一季相近。

In the commercial segment, we anticipate revenues will remain steady to Q1, while the Federal government segment revenues will be relatively consistent year-over-year. With this background, we are estimating revenues at $1.035 billion to $1.055 billion for the second quarter. We are estimating net income of $44.7 million to $48.3 million and adjusted EBITDA of $114 million to $119 million and adjusted EBITDA margin of 11% to 11.3%.

在商業部門，我們預期營收將與第一季持平，而聯邦政府部門營收將大致與去年同期一致。在此背景下，我們估計第二季營收為 10.35 億至 10.55 億美元。我們估計淨利為 4,470 萬至 4,830 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 1.14 億至 1.19 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 11% 至 11.3%。

Thank you. I'll now turn the call back to Ted for some closing remarks.

謝謝。接下來我把電話交回給 Ted 做結語。

Thanks, Marie. As is clear from today's discussion, our clients remain cautious with our IT spend as they look for more certainty in their business performance against a challenging macro backdrop. Nevertheless, we continue to proactively shape our operating model to be resilient in the current market as well as be ready for when IT spend accelerates.

謝謝，Marie。從今天的討論可清楚看出，在具挑戰性的總體經濟背景下，客戶在 IT 支出上仍保持謹慎，並希望對其業務表現有更高的確定性。儘管如此，我們仍持續主動調整營運模式，使其在當前市場中更具韌性，同時也為 IT 支出加速時做好準備。

To ensure our service offerings and capabilities match the evolving needs of our clients and our industries, it's essential that we maintain a solid foundation of client support. With that in mind, I'm grateful to our entire team for your hard work and commitment over the past quarter. Your efforts are deeply appreciated. I am honored to be part of such a talented and client-focused team. Sourcing exceptional IT talent on a just-in-time basis is one of the many ways in which ASGN differentiates itself in the IT marketplace.

為確保我們的服務方案與能力能符合客戶與產業不斷演進的需求，維持穩固的客戶支援基礎至關重要。基於此，我要感謝全體團隊在過去一季的辛勤付出與投入。你們的努力我們由衷感激。能成為如此才華洋溢且以客戶為中心的團隊一員，我深感榮幸。以即時（just-in-time）的方式引進卓越 IT 人才，是 ASGN 在 IT 市場中展現差異化的眾多方式之一。

Our differentiated recruiting model that relies on contingent labor, onshore and Azure provides a scalable, flexible solution that sets ASGN apart from traditional consulting companies that rely on a permanent bench. Leveraging a contingent labor force enables us to tailor our offering and provide our clients across six diverse industry verticals with the exact skill sets pricing and industry-based talent they need, whether for a short-term data review project or a longer-term platform integration.

我們具差異化的招募模式仰賴彈性人力、在岸（onshore）以及 Azure，提供可擴展且具彈性的解決方案，使 ASGN 有別於依賴固定常備人力（permanent bench）的傳統顧問公司。運用彈性人力使我們能量身打造服務，並為橫跨六個多元產業垂直領域的客戶，提供其所需的精準技能組合、定價與以產業為基礎的人才，不論是短期的資料檢視專案，或較長期的平台整合。

A pivotal aspect of our model is that our contingent labor force flexes with revenue, acting as a stabilizer for gross margin if and when revenues soften. This, along with our variable SG&A cost structure allows us to deliver solid margins and cash flow. As is evident from our go to market strategy I just described, ASGN has the right building blocks in place.

我們模式的一個關鍵面向是：彈性人力會隨營收伸縮，當營收走弱時可作為毛利率的穩定器。再加上我們可變動的 SG&A 成本結構，使我們能交付穩健的利潤率與現金流。如我剛才所述的市場進入策略所示，ASGN 已具備正確的基礎要素。

That said and as Marie discussed, we do not anticipate the seasonal uptick we have historically seen in our revenues in the second quarter due in large part to the lack of ramp in IT spend and budget releases that we typically see during the first quarter. Nevertheless, our IT consulting pipeline is growing, bookings remain solid and the projects we are winning are longer in duration and more consultative.

話雖如此，正如 Marie 所提到，由於 IT 支出未見加速，以及第一季通常會出現的預算釋出未如以往，我們預期第二季不會出現過去在營收上常見的季節性回升。儘管如此，我們的 IT 顧問業務管線正在成長，接單（bookings）仍然穩健，而且我們贏得的專案期間更長、也更偏向顧問型。

We have weathered many economic cycles throughout our company's history, and I'm confident that when IT spend begins to accelerate, our teams will be at the forefront to lead our clients to their next phases of technological innovation, productivity and growth.

在公司歷史中，我們歷經多次經濟循環；我有信心，當 IT 支出開始加速時，我們的團隊將站在最前線，引領客戶邁向下一階段的技術創新、生產力與成長。

Thank you again for joining our first quarter 2024 call. Operator, please open the call to questions.

再次感謝各位參與我們 2024 年第一季電話會議。接線員，請開放提問。

(Operator Instructions)

（接線員指示）

Trevor Romeo, William Blair.

Trevor Romeo，William Blair。

Hi, good afternoon. Thanks so much for taking the questions. First one, I was just wondering if you could maybe speak to demand trends throughout the quarter. I guess it seemed like last quarter, the message was maybe a good degree of stability. I think as you said, you typically see a revenue uptick in Q2. It doesn't sound like that's likely at this point. So I was just wondering if you could comment on how demand and client conversations have evolved in the past few months and how that informs your outlook going forward.

嗨，午安。非常感謝讓我提問。第一個問題，我想請教您能否談談本季期間的需求趨勢。我想上一季的訊息似乎是相當程度的穩定。而如您所說，通常第二季會看到營收回升。但聽起來目前這種情況不太可能發生。因此我想請您評論一下，過去幾個月需求與客戶對話如何演變，以及這如何影響您對未來的展望。

Yeah, Trevor, thanks for the question. In commercial, I would say it just remains steady. We're kind of here from the third quarter into the fourth and now the fourth into the first adjusted for billing days and seasonality have just really seen, but I'll say just a steady trend, no real change in client tone or conversations and here in the first three weeks of the second quarter, more of the same.

好的，Trevor，謝謝你的問題。在商業端，我會說就是維持穩定。我們從第三季到第四季、再從第四季到第一季（已就可計費天數與季節性做調整）所看到的，基本上就是一個穩定的趨勢；客戶的語氣或對話沒有真正的變化，而在第二季的前三週也一樣。

So it's a little out of the norm, if you will. There is typically some seasonality here, where when you move out of the first and into the second, your volumes are ramping up, but we don't see that right now. We just see a steadiness.

所以可以說有點不太尋常。通常會有一些季節性，從第一季進入第二季時，量會開始爬升，但我們現在沒有看到。我們看到的就是穩定。

On the Federal side, we had a really solid growth quarter in the first quarter. I think that we're hopefully here now going to see our procurement officials begin to take an action on some of these things that we have as submitted weighting awards. And so while bookings were a little muted in the first quarter, we're hoping the pace of that will pick up here in the second and into the third.

在聯邦端，我們第一季有非常扎實的成長季度。我想我們希望現在能看到採購官員開始對我們已提交、正在等待授標的部分採取行動。因此，雖然第一季的接單稍微偏淡，我們希望第二季到第三季的節奏會加快。

Okay. Thank you, Ted. That's helpful. And then just one on AI demand. I was just wondering for some of the foundational cloud data work even starting for clients kind of trying to prep for AI. Have those projects evolved or changed in any way as they moved along? I guess have any of your clients move closer toward the use case stage there? Just trying to get a sense of how that demand trend could continue to drive new business for ASGN through the next several quarters.

好的。謝謝你，Ted。這很有幫助。接著一個關於 AI 需求的問題。我想請教，對於一些基礎性的雲端與資料工作，甚至是客戶為了準備 AI 而開始進行的工作，這些專案在推進過程中是否有任何演變或改變？我想問的是，是否有任何客戶已更接近進入使用情境（use case）階段？只是想了解這樣的需求趨勢，未來幾季如何持續帶動 ASGN 的新業務。

Yeah, Randy, you want to take that one?.

好的，Randy，你要回答這題嗎？.

Yeah. I'll start and Trevor, I like the way you worded the question because you have it exactly right. First of all, a lot of work going on in the cloud structures and the data side of the business. That continues. Those are among our highest solutions in terms of consulting and even in staffing that we place.

好的。我先開始，Trevor，我喜歡你提問的方式，因為你說得完全正確。首先，在雲端架構與資料端有大量工作正在進行。這仍在持續。就顧問服務而言，甚至在我們派遣的人力配置上，這些都屬於我們最高的解決方案之一。

The use case side of it is in discussion mode, contemplation, if you will, but not yet, I think taking off. And I think that's just a question of them setting their governance policies, they're setting their data sets appropriately. They do have a mind of use cases and eventually because they're prepping the data in a way that would support that. So I think there's progress, but it's slow. And I'd say slow and steady, but nothing robust.

就其使用案例端而言，目前仍在討論模式、也可以說是在思考階段，但我認為還沒有真正起飛。而我認為這只是他們在制定治理政策、並適當設定其資料集的問題。他們確實有在思考使用案例，最終也會如此，因為他們正在以能支援使用案例的方式來準備資料。所以我認為是有進展，但很慢。我會說是慢而穩，但還談不上有任何強而有力的成果。

We definitely, I think, had more AI engagements in the first quarter, one. There was one of those engagements featured in Ted script that he read to you a short while ago in one of our telecommunications clients. So that was a nice thing to see, but it's not of the scale that it would certainly outreach any of the work we're doing in cloud, data, or cybersecurity, those areas.

我想我們在第一季確實有更多的 AI 專案接洽，至少有一個。其中一個接洽案，Ted 剛才在他念給你聽的稿子裡也有提到，是我們某個電信客戶的案例。所以看到這點很不錯，但其規模當然還不足以超過我們在雲端、資料或資安等領域所做的任何工作。

Okay. Thank you very much.

好的。非常感謝。

Surinder Thind, Jefferies.

Surinder Thind，Jefferies。

Thank you. For the first question, can you maybe provide some color around the commercial consulting revenue growth that was quarter over quarter? Were there a few large projects that kind of -- that you started in the quarter? Because it looks like in the subsequent quarter that things are going to be relatively stable. So just trying to understand the trends within the commercial consulting segment. Thanks.

謝謝。第一個問題，你能否就商業顧問收入的季對季成長提供一些說明？是否有幾個大型專案在本季啟動，因而帶動成長？因為看起來在接下來的季度，情況會相對穩定。所以只是想了解商業顧問部門內部的趨勢。謝謝。

Well, look, Surinder, if you go back, I think you're seeing consistent bookings in that unit. And while we're booking at [1.2], which would lead you to some growth rate, we're also seeing elongation of those projects. So there's a slower burn of those bookings. We also mentioned that it's more heavily weighted to renewals than it is to new work. And so I think clients continue on with mission-critical things that they were working on. And so that's why we see extensions of this work. But I think back to the original part of your question, was there any one big thing or two big things that got started here that were difference maker? No.

Surinder，你看，如果回頭看，我認為你會看到該單位的接單一直很一致。雖然我們的接單比率在 [1.2]，這會讓你預期有一定的成長率，但我們也看到這些專案的週期在拉長。因此這些接單的消化速度變慢。我們也提到，這部分更偏向續約，而不是新案。所以我認為客戶仍在持續推進他們正在做的關鍵任務事項。這也是為什麼我們看到這些工作的延展。但回到你問題的前半段：是否有一兩個大型案子在這裡啟動、成為關鍵差異？沒有。

Got it. And then I guess maybe some additional color on the subsegments within the commercial -- the contingent labor part of the business, maybe specifically like the assignment business versus creative circle in perm placement.

了解。那接著想請你再補充一些商業部門內的子項目，尤其是或有勞務（contingent labor）這塊，例如派遣業務（assignment）相對於 Creative Circle 的永久職缺媒合（perm placement）。

And specifically, how are they doing beyond the assignment revenue growth number we gave you or what --

具體來說，除了我們給你的派遣收入成長數字之外，它們表現如何，或是--

Yeah. Beyond the top line number in terms of just trying to understand trends, if there's things that maybe have started to maybe stabilize relative to last quarter? Just any additional color that you can provide that can help us understand where we are in the cycle.

對。除了營收總額的數字之外，我主要是想了解趨勢；是否有一些事情相較於上季開始趨於穩定？任何你能提供的補充說明，都能幫助我們理解我們目前處於景氣循環的哪個位置。

Yeah. I would say that they're stabilizing quarter-to-quarter here. I don't think that's totally new, but I think it continues. If you look at the foreign metrics for the business, they're not telling you there's some inflection here for a slope up, but performance week to week, month-to-month and throughout the first quarter and into the first piece of the second just tells you that, that assignment part of the business is steady as well.

是的。我會說它們在季對季之間正在趨於穩定。我不認為這是全新的現象，但我認為這個趨勢在延續。如果你看這項業務的前瞻性指標，它們並沒有告訴你這裡會出現向上斜率的拐點；但從每週、每月的表現，以及整個第一季到第二季初期的情況來看，都顯示派遣這塊業務同樣是穩定的。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Jeff Silber, BMO Capital Markets.

Jeff Silber，BMO Capital Markets。

Hey, thanks a lot of it. This is Ryan on for Jeff. I was curious as we move throughout the year, aside from just the automatic stabilizers, what levers do you have to pull in terms of the margin defense? And how does that really relate with the negative mix element of the Federal government strength in coming quarters?

嗨，謝謝。我是 Ryan，代 Jeff 提問。我想了解，隨著我們走完整年，除了自動穩定器之外，你們在毛利率防守方面還有哪些可以拉動的槓桿？以及這與未來幾季聯邦政府業務走強所帶來的負向組合影響之間，關聯性如何？

Well, good question. I think on the last piece of that, you're going to continue as long as we're growing in Federal and not growing in commercial, you're going to see the effect of business mix play out. If you think about levers to the first part of your question that we have to pull, look, I mean our business model is mostly a variable cost model. So more than 80% of our SG&A is in compensation, incentives, commissions, bonuses, those type of things.

嗯，問得好。就你問題的最後一部分而言，只要我們在聯邦政府業務成長、而商業業務不成長，你就會持續看到業務組合的影響逐步顯現。至於你問題前半段提到我們可以拉動的槓桿，你看，我們的商業模式大多是變動成本模式。因此我們超過 80% 的 SG&A 都是薪酬、激勵、佣金、獎金等這類項目。

So not only are we not dealing with a big bench on the gross margin side and its revenues move the cost of goods, their cost of sales is moving and resetting itself, we're also seeing lower incentives and natural attrition. And this will continue to be the levers that play out the year if we see something different for now, things are kind of stable.

所以我們不僅不需要在毛利端承擔很大的閒置人力（bench），而且隨著營收變動，銷貨成本也會跟著變動並重新調整；同時我們也看到激勵下降以及自然流失。如果目前沒有看到不同的情況，這些將會是今年持續發揮作用的槓桿；就目前而言，情況算是穩定。

So I would say we're letting attrition work. We're backfilling it in certain areas where we see demand, other areas that don't have demand, we may not be replacing those resources, and it just continues to be a week to week thing that we monitor.

所以我會說我們讓自然流失發揮作用。在我們看到有需求的某些領域，我們會補人；在沒有需求的其他領域，我們可能不會補回那些資源。

Got it. Thanks Ted. And just a follow-up. It seems like some of the larger for IT service providers have started to see a leg down and a little bit more weakness over the last couple of months. It seems like your consulting business is relatively stable. Is there anything you'd like to call out on that divergence there between the two?

了解。謝謝 Ted。再追問一下。看起來一些大型 IT 服務供應商在過去幾個月開始出現再下一階的下滑、弱勢更明顯。但你們的顧問業務似乎相對穩定。對於你們與他們之間的這種分歧，有沒有什麼想特別指出的？

Well, look on the -- as it relates to our offering versus theirs, we are -- I think you've heard me say many times before, a real productive way for clients to continue to get really critical projects and initiatives done and to keep their spend at a lower rate than maybe some of the big traditional consulting firms. So I think you're seeing that play out here.

嗯，你看，就我們的服務內容相對於他們而言——我想你以前也多次聽我說過——我們為客戶提供一種非常高效的方式，讓他們能持續完成真正關鍵的專案與倡議，同時把支出維持在可能低於一些大型傳統顧問公司的水準。所以我認為你現在看到的就是這點在發揮作用。

Now I will tell you, I think all the -- there's a lead lag here, while the assignment business was the first and the fastest to fall during the quarters in '23 until it count some stability in the latter part of '23, you've seen the consulting trail that, not just for us but for the peer group as well. And I think that's natural, we would have told, we would say, we did say to expect that. So I'll go back and just say we have a very capable high-end solution for the client in these areas that are most critical and important to them.

我也要告訴你，我認為這裡存在領先與落後的關係：派遣業務在 2023 年的幾個季度是最先、也是最快下滑的，直到 2023 年後段才出現一些穩定；而你看到顧問業務落後於此，不只是我們，整個同業群也是如此。我認為這很自然；我們本來就會告訴你——我們也確實說過——要預期會這樣。所以我再回到重點：在這些對客戶最關鍵、最重要的領域，我們能提供非常有能力的高階解決方案。

We come at a very productive price point in order to get these things done. And so they're pulling our lever, if you will, in order to stay with it. And I think that's what you can see playing out in the numbers.

我們以非常具生產力的價格點來協助把這些事情做完。因此他們會拉動我們這個槓桿（如果你願意這麼說），以便持續推進。我認為你可以從數字中看到這點正在發生。

Hey, Ted is it worth mentioning also, Ryan, that we're not overweighed in any one industry. So sometimes other consulting businesses are heavily weighted in one or two industries. We're pretty much spread across the six industries we talked to you about. And I thought that helps us as well. There are certain industries that still aren't up in spending in the IT area. And while we're affected by that as well as some of the others, they may be more weighted in those industries.

Ryan，Ted，另外也值得一提的是，我們並沒有在任何單一產業過度集中。所以有時候其他顧問業務會在一兩個產業上權重很高。我們基本上分散在我們跟你談過的六個產業之中。我認為這也對我們有幫助。有些產業在 IT 領域的支出仍未回升。雖然我們也會受到影響，和其他人一樣，但他們可能在那些產業的曝險更高。

Understood. Thank you very much.

明白。非常感謝。

Kevin McVeigh, UBS.

Kevin McVeigh，UBS。

Great. Thanks so much and congratulations on the buyback. I wonder, could you give us any sense, I know it's over two years, any sense of the sequencing on the buyback? And if I heard the comments earlier, it sounds like maybe the M&A market isn't as appealing as you thought. Any thoughts around that, just again, sequencing on the buyback? And then I think it replaced $750 million.

太好了。非常感謝，也恭喜你們進行庫藏股回購。我想請教，你們能否讓我們大概了解一下——我知道這是超過兩年的計畫——回購在時間上的先後順序會是怎麼安排？另外，如果我沒聽錯你們先前的評論，聽起來併購市場可能沒有你們原先想的那麼有吸引力。對此有什麼想法嗎？再請談談回購的節奏安排？然後我想這是取代了7.5億美元。

So can you help us just rather replace the $500 million? So what was the net step up? So was it in the $750 million it is today? So there's a couple of questions in that.

所以你能否幫我們釐清一下，這是不是只是把5億美元替換掉？那淨增加的幅度是多少？也就是說，現在是7.5億美元嗎？這裡面有幾個問題。

Hey Ted, you're not -- you may be on mute?

嗨，Ted，你沒有——你可能在靜音？

(multiple speakers) Hello, sorry about that. I'll start over. Yes, my apologies.

(多位講者) 哈囉，不好意思。我重新開始。是的，抱歉。

Not at all.

完全沒關係。

So I mean to your point, the original authorization was $500 million, and we are replacing that with $750 million, it's for a two year period. But what was your question really Mc?

所以就你說的，原本的授權額度是5億美元，我們以7.5億美元取代它，期限是兩年。但你真正的問題是什麼，Mc？

We have to down about $177 million. And so the $750 million replaces that (inaudible)

我們已經用掉大約1.77億美元。所以這個7.5億美元是取代那個(聽不清楚)

And our intention is always to have at least a year, if not more, of authorization on the book. So typically, you would see us some at this time, increase it. To your point, we actually did increase it higher than what we typically would do.

而我們的意圖一向是帳上至少要保有一年、甚至更久的回購授權額度。所以通常你會看到我們在這個時間點把額度提高。如你所說，這次我們確實把額度提高到比平常更高。

That's helpful. And then just in terms of the lack of normal seasonal uptick, is that -- did you expect that going into the year? Or is that something new? And is that the macro? Or is that a function of anything that drove that?

這很有幫助。另外，就缺乏正常的季節性回升而言——你們在年初就預期會這樣嗎？還是這是新的情況？這是總體環境的因素嗎？或是有任何其他原因造成？

And you're saying the uptick, Kevin, and what?

你說的回升是指什麼，Kevin，是哪一方面？

(inaudible) you said if I heard you right, normally, you see some seasonal uptick in the Q2, and that hasn't surfaced yet. Is that the macro? Or is there anything else driving that right now?

(聽不清楚) 你說如果我沒聽錯，通常第二季會有一些季節性回升，但目前還沒出現。這是總體環境嗎？還是現在有其他因素在驅動？

No, I think it's a macro, Kevin. I mean look, you know this, when you come across the holidays, you reset as naturally as projects end and things get restarted. You start out in the first couple of weeks of January, the lower level of volumes that maybe finished at before the holidays in December. And you spent January kind of recouping that volume through the end of the quarter. And by the time you get to the second quarter, you're moving on to surpass where you were and grow higher.

不，我認為這是總體因素，Kevin。你也知道，跨過假期之後，隨著專案結束、事情重新啟動，會自然重置。一月前幾週通常會從較低的量開始，可能是十二月假期前結束時的水準。然後你在一月一路把量追回來，直到季末。等到第二季，你就會開始超過之前的水準並進一步成長。

I think what you're seeing here is just the steadiness and not that normal seasonal trend because the client is not back to any acceleration in IT spending. Mean my take and rance is that they have budgets to spend, but they're holding them very tight and close. They're trying to gain confidence in their own business performance and where interest rates are headed and what does that mean for their business and the outlook here as we go. So this is all a macro issue. Certainly, the underpinnings for spending more on IT are there.

我認為你現在看到的是維持平穩，而不是那種正常的季節性趨勢，因為客戶在IT支出上還沒有回到任何加速的狀態。我的看法與感受是，他們有預算可以花，但把預算抓得很緊、握得很牢。他們正在試圖對自身的營運表現、利率走向，以及這對他們業務與後續展望的意涵建立信心。所以這完全是總體面的問題。當然，增加IT支出的基本動能仍然存在。

Everybody's had a start line ready to go. And I think we're just a little bit of a waiting game here as we watch those things on the macro play out.

大家都已經站在起跑線上、準備好了。我想我們現在只是稍微在等待，觀察這些總體因素如何發展。

That's very helpful. And just one more if I could. Can you dimensionalize how much of the work's been GenAI related, whether it's through bookings or what percentage of the revenue? I know it's still relatively little early, but just any way to think about how much the scope of work has been GenAI?

非常有幫助。如果可以我再問一個。你能否量化一下有多少工作是與生成式AI（GenAI）相關的——不論是從接單（bookings）來看，或是占營收的百分比？我知道現在還算早期，但有沒有任何方式可以理解目前GenAI相關工作的規模？

Very little. I think we are -- we see conversation activity. We see some bookings of small projects to get started in conversations or look at data or think about where does it need to be in the cloud, those kind of things. But while there's a lot of conversation going on around that stuff, Kevin, there's no real material spend going. We have bookings around that. It's growing very fast, but it's a very small number. And I think that the real push on that is yet to come which is a good thing. I mean I think this is not a false promise. This is just everybody getting teed up and ready to go.

非常少。我想我們——我們看到很多對話與討論。我們也看到一些小型專案的接單，用來啟動討論、檢視資料，或思考資料應該放在雲端的哪裡之類的事情。但雖然圍繞這些議題的討論很多，Kevin，實際上並沒有真正具規模的支出。我們有相關接單。它成長很快，但基數非常小。我認為真正的推進力還在後面，這其實是好事。我的意思是，我不認為這是空頭支票。這只是大家都在把球架好、準備起跑。

Super helpful. Thank you.

非常有幫助。謝謝。

Heather Balsky, Bank of America.

美國銀行（Bank of America）的Heather Balsky。

Hi. Thank you very much. I'm just curious, especially on the back of the question about buybacks. And as you kind of think of use of cash near term and also for the midterm, how are you thinking about your M&A strategy, especially given that your some of the challenges in the environment that are still out there, what does your pipeline look like? And where would you want to fill in your portfolio?

嗨。非常感謝。我只是好奇，特別是延續剛才關於回購的問題。當你們思考短期以及中期的現金運用時，你們如何看待你們的併購策略？尤其在目前環境仍有一些挑戰的情況下，你們的案源（pipeline）看起來如何？以及你們希望在哪些地方補強你們的產品／服務組合？

Yeah. Well, look, Heather, I mean we still believe M&A is the highest and best return on capital when we deploy it the way we do strategic tuck-ins that bring capabilities into our business that are very important to our clients and we can pull across this account portfolio is really the name of the game. There are certain areas where we can organically build capability, and we're doing that. There are other places where we're better off making an acquisition.

是的。Heather，你看，我們仍然相信，當我們以一貫方式去部署資本——也就是做策略性的補強型併購（tuck-ins），把對客戶非常重要的能力帶進我們的業務，並且能在我們的客戶組合中交叉推廣——併購仍是資本報酬率最高、最好的用途。有些領域我們可以透過內生成長來建立能力，我們也正在做。但也有一些地方，我們更適合透過收購來達成。

Our acquisition of GlideFast in the ServiceNow area to become a premier North American partner is a great example of that. And I think when we go through that exercise, we have a lot of confidence by the time we get to the decision point because we have really good insights into what our clients are thinking about what's in their pipeline in terms of work to get done.

我們在ServiceNow領域收購GlideFast、成為北美頂尖合作夥伴，就是很好的例子。而我認為當我們做這樣的評估時，到了決策點我們會很有信心，因為我們對客戶在想什麼、他們待辦工作在案源中的內容，有非常好的洞察。

And so we can, if you will, work backwards from that, and we measure and know that we have certain opportunities that we could immediately begin to sell. So that is the premise that remains the premise, and it will remain important as we go forward.

因此我們可以——如果你願意這麼說——從那裡反推回來，我們會衡量並確認我們有一些機會可以立刻開始銷售。所以這個前提仍然成立，也會在未來持續重要。

I think we're in a moment here where, especially in the commercial market, where you're just not seeing many, if any real quality assets come to market. And it's for all kinds of reasons. There's a pause here in IT spending to a large degree. I think these companies are able to hang on here for a little while longer. They're not willing to reset their expectations down in terms of valuation with maybe where market valuations are.

我認為我們正處在一個時點，尤其在商業市場，你幾乎看不到、即便有也很少有真正高品質的資產上市。原因有很多。IT支出在很大程度上出現暫停。我想這些公司還能再撐一段時間。他們不願意把對估值的期待下修到可能更貼近目前市場估值的水準。

It's not just one thing. It's a combination of all those things, if you will. So in the meantime, as Marie mentioned, resetting our share repurchases authorization and we sized it like we normally do. We looked out two years. It's about two years' worth of free cash flow. And right now, our head is to -- while there's not any meaningful M&A opportunities to continue to dedicate quarterly free cash flow to repurchases because this is a very attractive valuation point. And so more of the same, if you will, from where we've been in the last few quarters.

不只是單一因素。可以說是所有這些因素的綜合作用。因此同時，如 Marie 提到的，我們重新設定了股票回購授權，規模也如同我們一貫的做法。我們往外看了兩年。大約相當於兩年的自由現金流。而目前我們的想法是——在沒有任何具實質意義的併購（M&A）機會之前，會持續把每季的自由現金流投入回購，因為這是一個非常具吸引力的估值水位。所以可以說，會延續過去幾季我們一直在做的事情。

Thank you. That's really helpful. Thank you very much.

謝謝。這真的很有幫助。非常感謝。

Tobey Sommer, Truist Securities.

Tobey Sommer，Truist Securities。

Thanks. If you look at forecasting the business, for example, your guidance or so forth. Is it easier or harder than it was three or six months ago? And maybe could you comment across the business segments in that regard?

謝謝。如果從預測業務的角度來看，例如你們的指引等等。相較於三個月或六個月前，現在是更容易還是更困難？另外，能否就各業務部門在這方面做些評論？

Well, look, Tobey, I guess I wouldn't say it's any more difficult I'm kind of looking around the room here than it was three or six months ago. If you go back years ago -- several years ago, when we didn't have as large a footprint in consulting I would say it was a little more difficult to forecast because on the IT staffing side of the business, that kind of comes in shorter increments, volumes could kind of quickly move up and down on you. But in consulting, when you win a booking and commercial, and you're going to work it over the next 12 to 18 months, you have really good certainty in that. And in federal, you have really good certainty when you win things that you're going to be working in for the next five years.

嗯，Tobey，我想我不會說現在比三個月或六個月前更困難——我在這裡環顧一下會議室。如果回到幾年前——好幾年前，當我們在顧問服務的布局還沒這麼大時，我會說預測確實比較困難，因為在 IT 人力派遣那一塊，業務通常以較短的週期進來，量能可能很快就上下波動。但在顧問服務方面，當你拿下訂單並完成商務簽約後，接下來 12 到 18 個月要執行的工作，你其實有很高的確定性。而在聯邦政府業務方面，當你得標後，你也很有把握接下來五年都會在該案子上工作。

So I think over the long haul, forecasting of the business has improved. We've gotten better visibility and transparency. We have more confidence in the bookings that are in our backlog. And so that's played itself out. I would say in the last two or three quarters hasn't been too much change. I mean we've gotten a little more in one area than we expected or a little less in commercial.

所以我認為從長期來看，對業務的預測能力是提升的。我們的能見度與透明度更高。我們對於積壓訂單（backlog）中的接單更有信心。因此這些都已反映出來。我會說最近兩到三季變化不大。也就是某些領域比我們預期多一點，或商業端少一點。

And Federal has played out about like we thought. And really the only variable there, sometimes we get a few million more in maybe licenses that are part of our solution that we expected one quarter and it came in another. But that's just incremental stuff around the edges, if you will.

而聯邦政府業務的表現大致符合我們的預期。真正的變數只有：有時候某一季我們在解決方案中包含的授權（licenses）收入，可能會比預期多幾百萬，或是原本預期在這一季進來、結果落到下一季。但那都只是邊際上的增量變動而已。

Make sense. Thanks Ted. With respect to the commercial IT consultant, what is the mix of full-time versus flexible labor stand today? And how does that compare choose one or two reference points from the past maybe and let us know where you sit today because one of the strategies of the company is to lean more heavily on flexible in the way you are.

了解。謝謝 Ted。就商業端 IT 顧問而言，目前全職與彈性用工的組合比例是多少？以及相較於過去一兩個時間點（你可以選一兩個作為參考）有何不同？也請告訴我們你們現在的位置，因為公司策略之一就是以你們目前的方式更倚重彈性人力。

Yeah. So we've pretty consistently seen as said that of the projects that we're working within our commercial consulting business, about 80% to 85% of it is contingent IT labor from our IT staffing capabilities at about 15 to 20 at any onetime is subject matter expertise with industry experience that we have in-house plus our nearshore delivery center in Guadalajara, Mexico.

是的。我們一直相當一致地看到——如先前所說——在我們商業顧問業務正在執行的專案中，大約 80% 到 85% 是來自我們 IT 派遣能力的約聘/派遣 IT 人力（contingent IT labor）；而在任何時間點約 15% 到 20% 則是我們內部具產業經驗的主題專家（SME），再加上我們位於墨西哥瓜達拉哈拉的近岸交付中心（nearshore delivery center）。

And I wanted to follow up on the capital allocation question in share repurchase. It is just down to this lethargic IT spending environment, it doesn't last too much longer, meaning more than four, five quarters more. How do you guys go through the analysis of kind of husbanding a little cash to have more dry powder to make acquisitions a consequence when the market is more subtle?

我也想追問一下資本配置、特別是股票回購的問題。如果只是因為目前 IT 支出環境疲弱，而這種狀況不會持續太久——也就是不會再多於四、五個季度——你們如何分析是否要稍微保留一些現金，讓自己有更多「乾火藥」在市場更微妙時進行併購？

And I guess you announced share repurchase is not a commitment to repurchase that stock, and you could kind of slow it down if the environment improves and you see those opportunities, can you speak to that a little?

另外我想你們也宣布了股票回購，但回購授權並不代表一定會回購那些股票；如果環境改善、你們看到機會，也可以放慢回購速度。能否談談這點？

Yeah. I think that last part is the key, Tobey. I mean we got -- when we see the pipeline still with M&A opportunities to evaluate, we've got plenty of time to toggle what we're doing on a share repurchase standpoint. And also, if you've noticed, although we desire to spend a quarter of free cash flow, except in the last quarter, we've had a hard time kind of getting there, if you will, just because we're purchasing in a very programmatic way. So we've been building some cash on the balance sheet.

可以。我認為最後那一點是關鍵，Tobey。我的意思是——當我們看到仍有併購機會的管線需要評估時，我們有充足的時間去切換在股票回購方面的作法。而且如果你注意到，雖然我們希望動用每季自由現金流的四分之一，但除了上一季之外，我們其實不太容易做到那個水準，因為我們是以非常制度化、程式化的方式在買。因此我們一直在資產負債表上累積一些現金。

The last piece here is we've got plenty of room for leverage in order to bulk up and do a, what I'll say, a much more sizable acquisition. We've got great support from our banking partners. And I think if you look at our net leverage, which is now about [177], we have many times in the past, levered up to about 3.8 times total debt to EBITDA in order to get an acquisition done. And so that leaves ship with about two turns beyond where we are now, and that's really without even counting their EBITDA that they might contribute.

最後一點是，我們在槓桿空間上還很充裕，可以提高槓桿來做一筆——我會說——規模更大的收購。我們的銀行夥伴也給予很好的支持。而且如果你看我們的淨槓桿，目前大約是 [177]；過去很多次，為了完成收購，我們曾把總負債對 EBITDA 的槓桿拉到大約 3.8 倍。所以相較於目前水準，等於還有大約兩圈（two turns）的空間，而這甚至還沒把被收購方可能貢獻的 EBITDA 算進去。

So I think we've got the firepower here to do anything that we feel we need to do. And we would like to do acquisitions that still fit the same pattern that we've been doing in terms of capabilities that we can pull across our current account portfolio. But if it were a little bit larger scale, that would be a good thing.

所以我認為我們具備足夠火力去做任何我們認為需要做的事。而我們也希望收購案仍符合我們一直以來的模式，也就是收購那些能力，能夠在我們現有的客戶組合中橫向導入與擴展。但如果規模能再大一些，那會是件好事。

Thank you very much, Ted.

非常感謝你，Ted。

Mark Marcon, Baird.

Mark Marcon，Baird。

Hey, good afternoon and thanks for taking my questions. So Ted and Rand, I'm kind of curious, when you talk to your clients, and we're hearing the same consistent message across the space about the budgets are there, but they're still waiting. It probably varies by client and by specific elements. But are you getting a sense for exactly what they're waiting for? Is it something that's specific to their company and the ceiling like level of confidence that they're going to make their budget forecast? Is it something from a macro perspective in terms of interest rates?

嗨，午安，謝謝回答我的問題。Ted 和 Rand，我有點好奇，當你們和客戶交談時，我們在這個領域也聽到一致的訊息：預算是有的，但他們仍在等待。這可能因客戶與具體項目而異。但你們是否感覺到他們究竟在等什麼？是公司自身特定因素，例如對於能否達成預算預測的信心門檻？還是宏觀層面的因素，例如利率？

Is there a concern that, hey, we haven't had a recession yet, but we've got an inverted yield curve, so perhaps that could occur? I'm just wondering what the trigger would be that would lead to some improvement with regards to the confidence to spend.

是否也擔心：我們還沒有真正出現衰退，但殖利率曲線倒掛，所以或許衰退可能發生？我只是想知道，什麼觸發因素會讓他們在支出信心方面有所改善。

Rand, you want to try that one and I'll jump in --

Rand，你要不要先回答這題，我再補充——

Yeah. Let me start. First of all, very senior clients, we typically avoid the conversation because they're not going to say anything anyway. But when you get down in the trenches to the technical managers who are assigned responsibility for these projects, we do hear a lot of our clients saying we're going to open up and they'll lay out a date in the third quarter or at the end of the year or this is important. We're going to move on this, but we're going to chunk it up a little bit and go slow, which we've said in the past.

好。我先說。首先，面對非常資深的客戶高層，我們通常會避免這類對話，因為他們反正也不會透露什麼。但當你深入到第一線、也就是被指派負責這些專案的技術主管時，我們確實常聽到客戶說他們會開始啟動，並且會提出一個時間點，例如第三季、年底，或是說這件事很重要。我們會推動它，但會把它切成較小的段落、放慢速度進行——這也是我們過去提過的。

So at the technical manager at the execution level, there is a sense in that population of that there is a day coming when they're going to have more latitude, but there's no reason given for why that is. I mean, look, we know what we have booked. We know what the projects that are in play are how they're playing out, if you will, even if they're stretching out or slowing down.

因此，在執行層級的技術經理那邊，那個族群有一種感覺：總有一天他們會有更大的操作空間，但並沒有說明為什麼會這樣。我的意思是，你看，我們知道我們已經簽下／入帳了什麼。我們知道正在進行中的專案是哪些，也知道它們的進展情況（如果你要這麼說的話），即便它們在拉長或放慢。

We do know what their IT initiatives are that they want to get done that they have stacked up in their budget once money gets released. And this is Federal or commercial. What we don't know is the Federal procurement officials are very slow at getting money out. I'm not sure why. Is that something coming from high on in the administration? Is that coming because of continued resolution? Is it coming because they're worried about having to save or reposition money for aid to foreign countries? I don't know.

我們也確實知道他們想完成、而且一旦資金釋出就已經在預算裡排隊的 IT 計畫有哪些。這不論是聯邦政府或商業客戶都一樣。我們不知道的是：聯邦採購官員在撥款上非常慢。我不確定為什麼。這是行政部門高層的指示嗎？是因為持續決議（continuing resolution）嗎？是因為他們擔心必須為對外援助而節省或重新調配資金嗎？我不知道。

On the commercial side, you can go through the same thing, what that buyer behavior that trigger don't know what comes down, but we do get a sense that they're coming, okay? It's coming. So is that.

在商業端，你也可以用同樣的方式去看：買方行為、觸發因素到底是什麼、會從上面下來什麼，我們也不知道，但我們確實感覺到它們會來，好嗎？它正在來。所以就是這樣。

Ted you want to add anything to that?

Ted，你要補充什麼嗎？

Yeah. I will just -- as one of those people who's watching this and moderating our own IT spend Mark, I would say all three matter. RIght? I mean I think as we have an ambition to invest harder in our own IT. We're certainly going at the most critical things. But we're worried about where the economy may be going for all the reasons that you just said. We're worried about our bottom line and that we do a good job of finding a balance here in terms of continuing to invest versus performing at a level we would expect to on the bottom line. And so I think all three of the things that you said matter.

是的。我只想說——作為那些正在觀察這件事、也在管控我們自身 IT 支出的人之一，Mark，我會說你提到的三個因素都重要。對吧？我的意思是，我們確實有更積極投資自家 IT 的企圖心。我們當然會先做最關鍵的事情。但基於你剛才說的所有原因，我們也擔心經濟可能走向何方。我們擔心我們的獲利表現，並且要在持續投資與維持我們對獲利水準的期待之間，做好平衡。所以我認為你提到的三件事都很重要。

I appreciate the color. And then one thing that was really interesting was the discussion around the databricks project that you had for a large oil and gas company. Can you talk a little bit about like what sort of premium pricing you're able to get? How attractive are those -- we're obviously hearing a lot about those sorts of things just starting up. I'm wondering how big that sort of practice could end up becoming.

感謝你提供的補充說明。另外一個很有意思的是，你們談到為一家大型油氣公司做的 Databricks 專案。你能談談你們能拿到什麼樣的溢價定價嗎？那些案子有多吸引人——我們顯然聽到很多這類事情才剛開始啟動。我想知道這類業務實務（practice）最後可能會成長到多大。

Rand, you wanted to talk about our data practice right in (inaudible)

Rand，你想談談我們的資料業務實務，對吧(聽不清楚)

Yeah. Mark, I think, if you look at our things we've talked about over the past year, we've made a hefty play with ServiceNow with databricks technology, Snowflake, certainly the cloud providers, both Microsoft and Amazon and Google -- and Salesforce. So we're watching those technologies. They seem to be the hottest technologies. We want to be in a position to support them in certain industries where money is flowing or maybe it's by necessity like health care. We reported that our health care business is doing fine quarter after quarter after quarter.

是的。Mark，我想，如果你回顧我們過去一年談過的事情，我們在 ServiceNow、Databricks 技術、Snowflake 上都有很大的布局，當然也包括雲端供應商——Microsoft、Amazon、Google——以及 Salesforce。所以我們在觀察這些技術。它們看起來是最熱門的技術。我們希望能在某些資金正在流入的產業、或是因為必要性（例如醫療保健）而必須投入的產業中，具備支援它們的能力。我們也回報過，我們的醫療保健業務一季接一季表現都很好。

Well, some of that is they need the technology. These are technologies that play in their world, and part of it is because the baby boomers are easy. And are putting up greater demand on our health care system. So you can see certain things unfolding.

其中一部分原因是他們需要這些技術。這些技術正好適用於他們的領域；另一部分原因則是嬰兒潮世代正在老化，對我們的醫療體系提出更高的需求。所以你可以看到某些事情正在發展。

It's interesting that we see telecommunications and we know what they're going through between the cable fight and the streaming services and how they're positioning for greater volume. There's work there. There's work in which the streaming services have to be in a position to pick up at huge volumes with certain pricing. And Ted and I have even commented that technology and telecommunications led us into this problem over a year ago, and now they seem to be coming out of it a little bit. And we've mentioned them, featured them in our tech.

有趣的是，我們看到電信產業，也知道他們在有線電視之爭與串流服務之間所面臨的狀況，以及他們如何為更大的流量做布局。那裡有工作機會。串流服務必須具備在特定定價下承接巨大流量的能力，這方面也有工作。而且 Ted 和我甚至評論過，科技與電信在一年多前就帶我們進入這個問題，而現在他們似乎正在稍微走出來一些。我們也提到過他們，並在我們的科技領域中把他們作為重點。

So banks different question is a different story. So Mark, I guess I'm just trying to give you some sense of what we're watching, same as everybody else. And these technologies, we know are critically important to the whole data structure and to the mapping of data to potential use cases in AI, which is the game. That's the game right now.

至於銀行則是另一個問題、另一個故事。所以 Mark，我想我只是想讓你了解我們在觀察什麼，跟大家一樣。而我們知道，這些技術對整體資料架構，以及把資料映射到 AI 潛在使用案例上，都至關重要——這就是現在的戰場。這就是現在的戰場。

Great. And then you did mention earlier in the discussion that consulting kind of follows some of the trends that you see on the assignment side. Obviously, assignment is still tough. You wouldn't expect consulting to -- I mean given the momentum that you have there, the way that you're reconfiguring things, your relationships, you wouldn't anticipate that consulting would actually end up declining at some point this year, would you?

了解。另外你先前也提到，顧問業務某種程度上會跟隨你在派遣（assignment）端看到的一些趨勢。顯然派遣仍然很艱難。你不會預期顧問業務——我是說，考量你們目前的動能、你們重整配置的方式、你們的客戶關係——你不會預期顧問業務在今年某個時點反而會下滑吧？

Well, look, Mark, we're growing in low single digits. Could that vary in a quarter to flat or slightly negative? I wouldn't promise that it couldn't, but our bookings trend does not tell us that it's going to really have significant year-over-year declines. And so I think you have to rely on that and we do rely on that bookings number because that gives us really good visibility into that work that's going to be completed over the next 12 to 18 months. COuld a client -- could something happen in the world where they really kind of don't just slow it down, but they really slow it down and then ramp it back up, well, sure. But there's no indication of that right now.

嗯，你看，Mark，我們目前是低個位數成長。這在某一季會不會波動到持平或小幅負成長？我不會保證不可能，但我們的接單（bookings）趨勢並沒有告訴我們會出現顯著的年對年下滑。所以我認為你必須依賴這點，而我們也確實依賴那個接單數字，因為它讓我們對未來 12 到 18 個月將完成的工作有非常好的能見度。客戶會不會——世界上會不會發生什麼事，讓他們不只是放慢，而是大幅放慢，然後再把速度拉回來？當然有可能。但目前沒有任何跡象顯示會這樣。

Great. And I just wanted to check nobody misinterpreted.

了解。我只是想確認沒有人誤解。

Hey, Ted, and Mark, is it worth mentioning, Ted has said many times in the past year, 1.5 years, the first to go is perm placement. The second to go or discretionary spend around things like creative, HR, that sort of thing. The next to go would be IT staffing. The last thing to go would be IT consulting. Well, if you think about what's going to happen as we start seeing the world come out of it, you're probably going to see the reverse of that.

嘿，Ted、Mark，是否值得一提：Ted 在過去一年到一年半裡多次說過，第一個被砍的是永久職缺媒合（perm placement）。第二個被砍的是像創意、HR 這類的非必要性支出。接下來才會輪到 IT 人力派遣（IT staffing）。最後才會輪到 IT 顧問服務（IT consulting）。那麼，如果你想想當我們開始看到世界走出這段低迷時期，可能會看到相反的順序。

You'll start seeing IT consulting going up, then all work equated staffing, then ultimately to the discretionary areas and to perm placement. I mean if you believe that's the way it unfolds going down, it presumably reverses that when we're going back up. So that's another evidence besides bookings, as Ted mentioned, that gives us confidence in the consulting side.

你會先看到 IT 顧問服務上升，接著是各類型的人力派遣，最後才會回到那些非必要性領域以及永久職缺媒合。我的意思是，如果你相信下行時是這樣展開的，那麼在回升時理論上就會反向發生。所以，除了接單之外，這也是另一個證據——如 Ted 所提到的——讓我們對顧問業務端更有信心。

That's great. Thank you.

很好。謝謝。

Thank you and we have reached the end of the question and answer session. I'll now turn the call back over to Ted Hanson for closing remarks.

謝謝，我們已經到達問答環節的結束。我現在把電話交回給 Ted Hanson 做結語。

Great. Well, I want to thank everyone for being here this evening for our quarter one earnings release and conversation. We look forward to speaking with you soon about quarter two. Have a great evening.

好的。我想感謝各位今晚參與我們第一季財報發布與交流。我們期待很快再與各位就第二季進行討論。祝各位晚安。

And this concludes today's conference and you may disconnect your line at this time. Thank you for your participation.

今天的會議到此結束，您現在可以掛線。感謝您的參與。